Category: People

Posted on

Connecting Classroom Learning to the World

Birding-Class-Families Courtesy & Copyright Joseph Kozlowski, Photographer
Birding-Class-Families
Courtesy & Copyright Joseph Kozlowski, Photographer
Ever since I started centering my entire 2nd-grade classroom instruction around a bird theme, one of the most important benefits I’ve seen is how learning at school suddenly becomes important and valuable to students outside the school walls, and because of that, students become advocates for learning to their families.

Male Bullocks Oriole (Icterus bullockiorum) Courtesy & Copyright Joseph Kozlowski, Photographer
Male Bullocks Oriole
(Icterus bullockiorum)
Courtesy & Copyright Joseph Kozlowski, Photographer

Female Belted Kingfisher-(Megaceryle alcyon) Courtesy & Copyright Joseph Kozlowski, Photographer Female Belted Kingfisher-(Megaceryle alcyon)
Courtesy & Copyright Joseph Kozlowski, Photographer

My birding classroom goes well beyond a few fun birding crafts or cute bird stickers. My students study a bird each week with reading passages, complete bird-related math activities, go on weekly field trips to find birds while keeping an ongoing writing journal about those experiences, and create their own birding guide over the course of the year about the birds they’ve studied.

Students can also send in bird sighting photos from home, and then we as a class, try to identify what bird they saw. Here points to one piece of evidence that kids are engaged outside of the school walls, with their families, in a special way. Just this year I had over 500 bird photo submissions from my 25 students. Each of these submissions in an independent, outside of school action that kids take – necessitating technological support from family – to make a connection from nature to the classroom. This type of connection is magical and indicative that learning at school is spreading beyond its walls, and that the students involve their family in the process.

Additionally, I receive emails from parents of students in my class saying things like “…ornithology prompted likely a lifelong love for birds in Jasmine, and has spread to our whole family. She even takes her little sisters on birding walks around the block to see what they can find.” or “Denis brought the whole family up Logan Canyon this weekend so we could look for birds!” Never before in all my years of teaching did I have families sharing how the work we did in class directly impacted the engagement of the family with nature outside of school. Now, kids are advocates to their families for engagement in the natural world.

Finally, you know something special is happening when families sacrifice their precious time outside of school and work hours to engage in learning. One hectic Monday in April, I sent out an impromptu email to my families that said “Let’s go birding! Meet at 5:00 PM on Thursday at Maple View Park, bring your family, and let’s see what we can find!” In my mind, a few of my passionate little birders would show up for the adventure. In reality, over 30 students, adults, and siblings, bustled into the parking lot ready for their binoculars and for the exploration! The group consisted of dads with spotting scopes, a family dog named ‘Tate,’ and lots of eager and inquisitive minds thrilled to look for birds in a new environment. The two hours went by in a flash, and nature didn’t fail to stun with the bright orange, black, and white of a Bullock’s Oriole; and the chattering Belted Kingfisher, frustrated that we had disturbed his evening fishing routine.

In the end, centering classroom instruction on this real-world theme of birds has made classroom learning something that is no longer bound within the school walls. It has become something that students need, use, and apply to the world around them in their everyday lives. Furthermore, their eagerness to make these classroom-to-world connections quickly draws their families into the same type of engagement. As a teacher, I could only ever hope that my impact would have such a reach, where kids go back to their families and become advocates for learning, advocates for awareness, and advocates for nature.

This is Dr. Joseph Kozlowski, and I am wild about outdoor education in Utah!

Credits:

Images: Courtesy & Copyright Joseph Kozlowski, Photographer, Used by Permission
Featured Audio: Courtesy & Copyright © Kevin Colver, https://wildstore.wildsanctuary.com/collections/special-collections/kevin-colver and including contributions from Anderson, Howe, and Wakeman.
Text:     Joseph Kozlowski, Edith Bowen Laboratory School, Utah State University https://edithbowen.usu.edu/
Additional Reading Links: Joseph Kozlowski & Lyle Bingham

Additional Reading:

Joseph (Joey) Kozlowski’s pieces on Wild About Utah:

Posted on

Summer School: How to Make Tent?

Writers at work. Jackson Lake sunset Grand Teton National Park Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer
Writers at work.
Jackson Lake sunset
Grand Teton National Park
Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer
Years ago, when I taught at Mount Logan Middle School in northern Utah, we ran two-week outdoor-based summer school programs. The model, “Bringing Literature to Life,” was the mastermind of two now-retired teachers, Dave Anderson and Bryce Passey.

Students on the move. High Creek Mount Naomi Wilderness Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer
Students on the move.
High Creek
Mount Naomi Wilderness
Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer

On the Trail Mount Naomi Wilderness Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer On the Trail
Mount Naomi Wilderness
Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer

High Creek Trail Mount Naomi Wilderness Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer High Creek Trail
Mount Naomi Wilderness
Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer

High Creek Trail Mount Naomi Wilderness Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer High Creek Trail
Mount Naomi Wilderness
Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer

A student reads a book during a trail break Mount Naomi Wilderness Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer A student reads a book during a trail break
Mount Naomi Wilderness
Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer

Writing on the trail Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer Writing on the trail
Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer

How to Make Tent Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer How to Make Tent
Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer

High Creek Lake Mount Naomi Wilderness Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer High Creek Lake
Mount Naomi Wilderness
Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer

Crossing the High Creek Mount Naomi Wilderness Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer Crossing the High Creek
Mount Naomi Wilderness
Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer

Sunset Moonrise Grand Teton National Park Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer Sunset Moonrise
Grand Teton National Park
Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer

Wes, the 6th grader who reshaped what I believed was possible Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer Wes, the 6th grader who reshaped
what I believed was possible
Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer

Teachers offered a variety of summer courses around this theme—all were funded by grants. Each session was based on a book. The idea was to bring the book to life. For example, a couple of technology teachers read October Sky with students and built and launched rockets on the soccer field. PE teachers offered a course called Extreme Sports. They read Maniac Magee and played all the sports Maniac plays in the book. Other courses, like “Say it with Puppets,” were offered based on teachers’ expertise and interests.

These summer school programs were offered to incoming sixth graders as a way to build their confidence, boost their reading skills, familiarize them with the middle school, foster friendships with peers, and build trust with teachers. Learning was fun and engaging and over the years, thousands of students fears and anxiety of transitioning to the middle school were dissolved.

Dave, Bryce, John Gregory, and I offered a course called “River Rats.” The first week students learned to canoe, hike, and spent two days backpacking up High Creek to Naomi Peak. This is a brutally hard trail for first time eleven and twelve-year-old backpackers, but we had a system. We’d walk until they were tired. Then we’d sit down in the shade, pass out snacks, and read a chapter or two of a book. When kids began to fidget, we’d shoulder our packs and hike again. We repeated the pattern for about eight hours until we arrived at our campsite. By the end of the day, kids didn’t realize how far they had traveled, they just knew they were tired. We also taught writing throughout the session—a favorite aspect of the curriculum for me.

The second week of “River Rats,” we camped in Grand Teton National Park for three days, paddling canoes on String Lake, hiking to Taggart Lake, and rafting mild sections of the Snake River. Weaving in our literacy theme all the while.

We ran two to four sessions of River Rats each summer for thirteen consecutive years. Memories abound of students who had major breakthroughs, of wildlife encounters, of learning moments, of rocks stashed in packs, and connections with people and the land.

A half dozen Cambodian refugees signed up for River Rats one summer. They spoke hardly a word of English and didn’t have any idea what they had actually signed up for. But they showed up every day and smiled and laughed and learned and made friends. I still remember their names and their faces. One, who I encountered years later, was completing her degree to become a teacher.

Another summer, three Chinese boys (whose parents were teaching Engineering courses at USU for a year), stood around a tangled mess of tent poles and tent parts in a high mountain meadow. Perplexed, one of them said to me, “How to…..make tent?” All of us burst out in laughter and I helped them “make” their tent in the yellow-orange alpenglow as a Cache Valley summer sunset lit up the sky.

We have stories of accommodating kids in wheelchairs, of kids building friendships across cultural barriers of all kinds. There were kids in tears who wanted to give up, kids who were terrified of water, kids who had never camped—but each found the strength to rise up and complete the journeys.

One summer a parent reached out to me before a session and said that his son had a prosthetic leg. I explained that his son should be able to do everything except for the overnight backpack.
“Oh, he’ll be fine,” the father said, “Just treat him like any other kid.” And we did. The boy didn’t mutter a single complaint the whole way, over ten miles of trail and 4,500 feet of elevation gain—with a full pack on his back.

I gained a new hero that week.

I became an educator because I hoped to have an impact on future generations—but I did not anticipate the profound impact my students would have on my own life.

I’m Eric Newell and I’m wild about Utah and the power of outdoor programs in public schools to change lives.

Team Work Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer
Team Work
Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer

Credits:
Images: Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer
Featured Audio: Courtesy & Copyright © J. Chase and K.W. Baldwin as well as Anderson, Howe, and Wakeman
Text: Eric Newell, Edith Bowen Laboratory School, Utah State University
Additional Reading: Eric Newell & Lyle Bingham

Additional Reading

Wild About Utah Pieces by Eric Newell

Spinelli, Jerry, Maniac Magee, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, November 1999, https://www.amazon.com/Maniac-Magee-Jerry-Spinelli/dp/0316809063

Hickham, Homer, October Sky, Dell, February 16, 1999, https://www.amazon.com/October-Sky-Coalwood-Homer-Hickam/dp/0440235502

Mount Logan Discovery Google Site: http://MountLoganDiscovery.org/

Mount Logan Discovery on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mountlogan.discovery/

Mt Naomi Wilderness is part of the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, USDA Forest Service, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r04/uinta-wasatch-cache

Grand Teton National Park, National Park Service, US Department of the Interior, https://www.nps.gov/grte/learn/index.htm

How to Set Up a Tent, Expert Advice, REI Co-op, https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/tent-set-up.html

Posted on

Working sheep dogs are a joy to watch

Ewe with a lamb, Likely a Border Cheviot Courtesy & Copyright Mary Heers, Photographer
Ewe with a lamb, Likely a Border Cheviot
Courtesy & Copyright Mary Heers, Photographer
I just got back from a voyage across the North Sea and couldn’t wait to tell everyone about the stunning landscape – Huge blocks of black basalt rock rising out of the sea. No trees in sight. But always a scattering of sheep grazing wherever grass has been able to grow. It being Spring, there were also quite a few baby lambs that seemed to prefer bouncing to walking.

Once, when our ship dropped anchor, a local hiking guide offered to show us how he and his Border Collie worked together to gather the scattered sheep and bring them down to his farm in the fall. He gave the dog a command in Finnish and the dog raced up the hill away from us. Another command and the dog stopped immediately and lay down. More commands – and the dog did it all. It was very impressive. Best of all, the dog seemed to be really enjoying the work-out.

Now, here in northern Utah we don’t get to see very many sheep grazing on our hillsides. But we can see plenty of working sheep dogs at the International Sheep Dog Competition held every Memorial Day at Soldier Hollow outside Midway, Utah.

It’s been going on for years, and I wouldn’t miss it for anything. I checked this year’s program and was delighted to see that one of the teams came from Cache Valley. Some of the dogs come from as far away as New Zealand, South Africa, and Scotland.

After three days of qualifying rounds, the top dogs were ready to go.

The first handler and their dog step up to the starting post. The big red digital clock started the countdown from 45 minutes. The dog is sent racing and over the hill where 10 sheep are waiting. These are not your ordinary farm sheep, but big rangy sheep brought in from the desert. They’ve never been herded before. The dog circles around behind the sheep. By now the handler is blowing his whistle and shouting as the dog maneuvers the sheep through a gate and back down to the starting post.

The next step is a return trip up the hill to bring back 10 more burly sheep, These sheep are all wearing bright red collars. The real excitement begins for me when all 20 sheep are standing inside a large circle marked out on the grass. The handler and the dog now enter the circle with the sheep. Their job is to separate 5 of the red-collared sheep and keep them inside the circle – while pushing all the other sheep out.

The sheep do not want to be separated. By now the handler is mostly shouting “Lie down!” Too much pressure from the dog and ALL the sheep will bolt out of the circle. Meanwhile, the big red digital clock is ticking down. I find myself holding my breath.

For many teams, the clock runs out.

The ones that are successful now move on to the final challenge. They must move the 5 red-collared sheep into a very small pen with an even smaller tiny gate. Often the dog will lock eyes in a stare down with a burly stubborn sheep. It’s another cliff-hanger.

Win or lose, these hard working sheep dogs are a joy to watch.

You might want to join me at Soldier Hollow next Memorial Day, come rain or shine.

This is Mary Heers and I’m Wild About Utah

Credits:

Images Courtesy & Copyright Mary Heers, Photographer
Featured Audio: Courtesy & © Courtesy & Copyright © Anderson, Howe, Wakeman
Text: Mary Heers, https://cca.usu.edu/files/awards/art-and-mary-heers-citation.pdf
Additional Reading: Lyle Bingham, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/

Additional Reading

Wild About Utah Pieces by Mary Heers

Soldier Hollow Classic Sheepdog Championship & Festival, https://soldierhollowclassic.com/

The History of the Soldier Hollow Classic with Mark Peterson, Soldier Hollow Classic Sheepdog Championship, 2025, https://yout-ube.com/watch?v=OqtiBsMLTPY

Please Sheep Go in the Pen, Soldier Hollow Classic Sheepdog Championship, 2025, https://yout-ube.com/watch?v=BwF-BqzB4mY

Sheep Dog Guiding Sheep into Pen at Soldier Hollow Classic Sheep Dog Championship & Festival, Courtesy & Copyright Mary Heers, Photographer, https://yout-ube.com/watch?v=60P7itSOl8g

Posted on

Sacred Mountains and a Beautiful Spirit

Teton Range, Teton National Park, Courtesy US NPS, J Tobiason, Photographer
Teton Range, Teton National Park
Courtesy US NPS, J Tobiason, Photographer
I collapsed in a tangled heap of rope at my campsite in the Teton’s North Fork of Cascade Canyon after summiting the Grand Teton. I was alone, unprepared, but couldn’t resist the summit climb. Why would someone of normal mind risk life and limb for such a foolhardy venture? Since that climb, I’ve summited many Utah peaks and others- including Mt. Rainier and Mt. Whitney.

Road to Denali, Courtesy US NPS-Denali NP (Flickr), Tim Rains, Photographer
Road to Denali
Courtesy US NPS-Denali NP (Flickr), Tim Rains, Photographer
“I climb because it’s there.” George Mallory’s 1923 response to “Why do you wish to climb Mt. Everest?”

Robin Pendery Climbing, Courtesy & Copyright Alpine Ascents International
Robin Pendery Climbing
Courtesy & Copyright Alpine Ascents International

Robin Pendery Overlooking Mountains, Courtesy & Copyright Alpine Ascents International Robin Pendery Overlooking Mountains
Courtesy & Copyright Alpine Ascents International

Robin Pendery in Powder, Courtesy & Copyright Alpine Ascents International Robin Pendery in Powder
Courtesy & Copyright Alpine Ascents International

Robin Pendery on Skis, Courtesy & Copyright Alpine Ascents International Robin Pendery on Skis
Courtesy & Copyright Alpine Ascents International

Robin Pendery on the Mountain, Courtesy & Copyright Alpine Ascents International Robin Pendery on the Mountain
Courtesy & Copyright Alpine Ascents International

Denali West Buttress Showing Camps, Courtesy US NPS Denali West Buttress Showing Camps
Courtesy US NPS

If you were to ask this question to the late 33-year-old Robin Pendery, my former Logan High student, dear friend, and world class climber, she may have used more descriptive terms. Robin was a very bright, boundless energy student engaged in several clubs for which I was faculty advisor. Our world always brightened with Robin’s presence.

A few days ago, when I received news of Robin’s death from plunging into a crevasse on Mt. Denali, North America’s highest, I was crushed. How could someone so vibrant, so young, so skilled and giving to all who knew her, have perished? My heart immediately went out to Kim and Bruce, Robin’s parents and dear friends of many years, who proudly kept me posted on Robin’s remarkable achievements.

A torrent of condolences and memories poured in on social media. I’ll share a few.

“Robin was my guide for several climbs early in my mountaineering career and she helped shape who I am in the mountains.”
“Tough, kind, capable, and always so stoked. Giving me confidence that women not only had a place in this world but could be leaders…this is heartbreaking.”

“I can’t hold back my tears. She was the one who presented me with my Denali Pro Patch last year, and she was one of the Denali Rangers I admired and respected the most.”

I believe Robin and I climbed for many of the same reasons: physical challenge, the spiritual high in accomplishing our goal, comradery, the incomparable, exhilarating beauty of high places, breathing in the rarified high-altitude air, dancing around crevasse-riddled glaciers, experiencing unrivaled sunrise and sunset.

I spent two seasons working in Denali National Park, occasionally finding time to ride the bus to mile 80 where one could view this mountain massif reflected in Wonder Lake, but no time nor money for this very demanding climb. Mt. Rainer in Washington state is another epic mountain Robin and I share, where one of my sons missed being swept away by an avalanche.

Both mountains hold the minds and hearts of millions from afar. “Is the mountain out today?” A phrase often heard in Seattle, Washington and Anchorage, Alaska, gladdening the heart when these lofty peaks appear above the clouds.

Both are considered sacred by numerous native tribes, their words translating to “The Great One”.

Henceforth, I will never view these iconic monuments of nature the same, adding my own sacred, shrouded in our dear Robin Pendry’s beautiful spirit.

This is Jack Greene for Bridgerland Audubon Society and I’m Wild about our sacred mountains, and the beautiful spirit that resides there.

Credits:

Images: Courtesy & Copyright Alpine Ascents International, Jonathon Spitzer, Director of Operations
Featured Audio: Courtesy & Copyright Kevin Colver, https://wildstore.wildsanctuary.com/collections/special-collections and
Anderson, Howe, and Wakeman.
Text & Voice: Jack Greene, Bridgerland Audubon, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/
Additional Reading Links: Jack Greene & Lyle Bingham, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/

Additional Reading:

Wild About Utah Pieces by Jack Greene, https://wildaboututah.org/author/jack/

Alaska’s News Source Facebook Presence, https://www.facebook.com/AlaskasNewsSource/posts/new-a-photo-released-by-the-national-park-service-shows-robin-pendery-middle-bei/1442297047942358/ (Read some of the comments– Not the McKinley vs Denali ones, but some who knew her.)

Robin’s page with Alpine Ascents International, https://www.alpineascents.com/guides/robin-pendery/

Alaska ranger dies in crevasse fall on North America’s tallest mountain, AP News, June 5, 2026,
https://apnews.com/article/mckinley-denali-alaska-ranger-dead-mountaineering-8012e601e02f26f557a9e154191065ee

Vigdor, Neil, Park Ranger Dies After Falling Into a Crevasse on Mt. McKinley, The New York Times, June 5, 2026,
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/05/us/national-park-service-ranger-dead-mount-mckinley.html

Romero, Dennis, National Park mountain guide dies in fall on Mount McKinley, NBC News, June 5, 2026, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/national-park-mountain-guide-dies-fall-mount-mckinley-rcna348749

Images include Robin with coworkers and plane to basecamp, Field Report – May 25, 2026, https://www.nps.gov/dena/blogs/field-report-may-25-2026.htm

Robin Pendery, NWAC–Northwest Avalanche Center, nwacus on Instragram, June 5, 2026, https://www.instagram.com/p/DZOUuTsgD60/

Denali Mountaineering Part 1: Planning Considerations, https://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/expeditionplanning.htm
Mountaineering: https://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/mountaineering.htm

A New Identity [and Altitude] for Denali, TERA, NASA’s Earth Observatory, https://terra.nasa.gov/news/a-new-identity-for-denali