College prep program for Burlington-Edison students goes outdoors
May 11—MOUNT VERNON — On a recent sunny Saturday, about a dozen Burlington-Edison School District students hiked the winding trails to the top of Little Mountain, learning along the way outdoor safety tips and about the plants and animals found in the forest.
The students were part of GEAR UP, which has teamed with the Vamos Outdoors Project to offer outdoor recreation and education to students in the program.
GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) is a federally funded grant program that focuses on supporting students who will be the first in their families to attend college.
Burlington-Edison School District GEAR UP site coordinator Heather Paton said the program works with students starting in the sixth grade and through their first year of college.
She said GEAR UP pivoted last year to offer virtual programs because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the fall, it partnered with the Vamos Outdoors Project for the first time to offer in-person, outdoor activities.
The Whatcom County nonprofit focuses on providing outdoor educational experiences to Latinx and English-language learner students.
"We are working with a lot of Spanish speaking families," Paton said. "That's why this partnership with Vamos Outdoors (Project) has been really wonderful."
She said fall programs included outdoor scavenger hunts, salmon education and disc golf. This spring, the program added more advanced activities, such as hiking and mountain biking.
"Kids really want to get out of the house, and it's perfect we're outdoors (where we) can socially distance and they wear masks," Paton said.
About a dozen students participated in the Little Mountain hike on May 1, the second week of spring activities.
Fatima Flores, a Burlington-Edison High School sophomore, said online school has kept her from seeing friends in person this year. She said when the outdoor programs started last fall, she was glad to be around others again.
"I thought it was fun," she said. "It was nice to see someone."
On the May 1 hike, Fernando Santa Cruz, an eighth-grade student at Allen Elementary School, spotted a banana slug during a scavenger hunt.
He said he would like to learn "how trees, flowers and animals work and how they grow."
As he hiked with Fernando, Vamos Outdoors Project staff member Alfredo Corvalan reminded the eighth grader that "nature is all around you."
"It's not just exclusive to parks or national parks," he said.
Corvalan said the goal of the Vamos Outdoors Project is to increase outdoors access for Latinx community members. He said he aims to teach students how to keep themselves safe outdoors and how to protect the environment.
"Most of these kids may not have known about the outdoors," he said. "I want them to learn about conservation and taking care of the environment."
Paton said every opportunity to engage with GEAR UP students outside of school is important.
She said while outdoor activities may not include explicit conversations about higher education, access to fun and new experiences helps students feel valued and that their mental health matters.
{p dir="ltr"}{span}"When they know that matters to the adults working with them, they are more likely to come to us to have conversations about what they want to do after high school," she said.{/span}
— Reporter Jacqueline Allison: jallison@skagitpublishing.com, 360-416-2145, Twitter: @Jacqueline_SVH
