Fun Times From Week Two!

Hello Everyone!

My week two at the Santa Monica Mountains came to a close yesterday. This week I mostly worked with the education crew and then I worked to help run the National Trails Day event on Saturday! It was a tremendous week because what I did was a blast and the people I got to work with are incredible people.

To give a brief summary, the tasks that the education crew had this week was to run kids programs on Wednesday and Thursday and get miscellaneous work done on Friday (I will go into more detail later). Then on Saturday it was National Trails Day so I tried my best to help keep that event organized and efficient.

On Wednesday, a school called Hamlin Charter School came for a field trip which was held literally right outside where I am living at a place called Rancho Sierra Vista. Roughly 36 kids showed up for the field trip to learn more about the Chumash Native American Tribe and the Santa Monica Mountains environment. There were 3 people I was working with but I eventually only shadowed a volunteer named Mary who was fantastic. It was all led off with everyone together having a quick and general lesson about the Chumash discussing topics such as their way of life. The discussion was then shifted to how we should respect nature and the national parks. The kids had great things to say when their input was asked for which was encouraging for me! We then split the kids into three groups (each of my co-workers would lead a group) and this is when I went off with Mary. Mary started off with a hike pointing out various plants, animals, and relating them all back to the Chumash and how the Chumash used these resources to live their lives.

Mary engaging with the kids on the hike! 

After the hike, we went to an activity where Mary talked about how the Chumash were close to the ocean and used those resources. She passed around specific shells they used called abalone shells and she ran an activity where they used a Chumash drill to make a necklace. After this we moved to an activity that was inside a Chumash home, called an 'Ap, and Mary led a discussion about Chumash artifacts and went more in depth how the Chumash used the resources around them.

Abalone shells were used for digging, bowls, and jewelry 

Shark skin could be used as sandpaper because of the rough texture

Chumash drills. Truly a brilliant design!

Some kids practicing with the drill. The house I am living in is actually in the background!

This is a Chumash home which is called an 'Ap

On Thursday, a school from north Hollywood came and a few more kids showed up. This time there were about 135 kids. Also, the field trip was different than the last one and was held at King Gillette Ranch.

A couple quotes that I liked which were cemented at King Gillette Ranch

A couple quotes that I liked which were cemented at King Gillette Ranch

It started off in a similar way as Wednesday where we started off as a group and then split off into groups. Luckily this time we had 5 people running groups. This time around I shadowed a different person, Ranger Mary (not the same Mary...there are a lot of Marys). This field trip started off with a hike once again relating nature to the Chumash. Ranger Mary also ran a discussion about culture and got the kids to talk about their own cultures which was a treat to listen in on. The kids also got a chance to look at Chumash artifacts that Ranger Mary passed around.

Ranger Mary showing the kids an abalone shell

Ranger Mary is showcasing an artifact that the Chumash used for music! When you spin in around it creates a unique sound.

The field trip then transitioned into Spanish influence and looking at Spanish culture. On King Gillette Ranch there are many Spanish style buildings. Ranger Mary talked to the kids about how each culture influenced each other (by choice and by force in the case of the Spanish). The final topic that Ranger Mary talked to the kids about were the homesteaders (American settlers) and their life moving to the West.

An activity where they had to differentiate Chumash and Spanish tools

Finished product of the activity!

After learning a little about the Chumash, Spanish, and homesteaders they got to build different styles of homes!

On Friday it was a an office day. We essentially looked over letters that kids sent to us and chose some to type up. This was important because the ones that we choose to type up are sent to the government and donors. They are looking for kids learning and enjoying the parks and if they see that more funding may get sent towards Education and Interpretation. I worked with two interns doing this named Fabiola and Melanie who were a blast to work with!

On Saturday it was National Trails Day! If you are unfamiliar, it is a mostly nationwide idea that on the first Saturday of June each park holds some sort event. For our park we held an event where people came and did maintenance on the trails. Over 160 people showed up! My responsibilities consisted of helping out with setting up, traffic/parking, taking photos, helping with the maintenance, and cleaning up. It was an incredible day of people coming together and helping keep the mountains beautiful. After the fire there was so much damage done that every helper counts! It was an honor to be apart of it.

Do I need to caption that this is a sign?

A little taste of me directing parking. It was like doing a puzzle which was a fun time!

People taking time out of their day volunteering to fortify the trails. A beautiful thing.

Putting the kids to work

"You're young and my back hurts so here ya go."

I had to show SOME proof that I did some physical labor! I SWEAR that this is my hand about to help put a post in the ground!

A FEW MORE THOUGHTS:

The education programs for kids here are amazing. I had a chance to interview Ranger Mary for about 45 minutes to learn more and it's great. California has a program called Every Kid in a Park that essentially makes it apart of the fourth grade science/history/social studies curriculum to visit the Santa Monica mountains (there are also other sub-programs within Every Kid in a Park). It gets kids from inner-cities that may not have easy access to the parks access through the school. This speaks to me as someone who was involved with a school in Kensington back in Philadelphia. Investing in kids is something I am passionate about and I am glad that the Santa Monica Mountains staff is passionate about. Through the NPS, State Parks, and Channel Islands it's not official but it's estimated that about 30,000 kids were reached in the 2018-2019 year. That's WITH the Woolsey Fire. I have so much respect for the Education and Interpretation division and I loved working with the people involved.