Eugene high schoolers learn about forestry careers in new summer program

Trekking through the wilderness, coring trees, looking for animal droppings; the Summer Forestry Immersion program put the "forest" in forestry.

The program, put on by local nonprofit Forests Today & Forever in partnership with Eugene School District 4J, brought 14 high schoolers on an educational retreat where they learned about all things forestry. The program lasts five days out on Bauman Tree Farm, where students learn from volunteer professionals about identifying trees and plants, fish and wildlife, and restoring trees after harvest.

Forests Today & Forever director Beth Krisko said the idea is to take the students through the life of a timber tree from seedling to sawmill. The students went on other field trips to a Cottage Grove tree nursery, a lumber mill and Oregon State University, where they tested out a logging equipment simulator.

"Every day is a new step in the process of sustainable forestry," Krisko said. "We're trying to offer the students, just the breadth of opportunities available in the forest sector, from students that will go on to college to pursue a four-year college degree, to students that will leave high school and be ready for employment. Along the way, at every step of the way, we're trying to highlight job opportunities."

This is the first year Forests Today & Forever is offering this summer program. The nonprofit has been working at the middle school level since 1994. Over the years, it has expanded with more older elementary school courses and some high school courses, but their middle school "Forest Field Days" was their initial claim to fame. The multi-week program partners with local schools and brings students out to the Bauman Tree Farm where they act like they have just inherited land and must figure out how to sustain it.

Krisko said that while some students aren't invested at first, she can see a switch flip when a student learns something new or takes a special interest.

"So many students just are unaware of the breadth of opportunities in our local communities, and there's so much available to them," Krisko said.

Getting the program started

Each day of the summer program, the students meet at Sheldon High School, where Sheldon High's Forestry and Natural Resources Management CTE instructor Elsa Arias Ninan and South Eugene High science teacher Julia Harvey get them started for the day. The students and teachers then load up on a bus and make their way to the Bauman Tree Farm off Territorial Highway. The students spend some time learning from guest speakers and taking notes in their daily journals and workbooks, but much of the day is hands-on learning.

On Thursday, the students split up into groups and used socks filled with chalk to mark trees that would be good candidates for harvesting.

Seven of the students were from Sheldon, six were from South and one was from Churchill High. In addition to the unique experience, the students also earn 0.5 science credits for completing the program.

Arias Ninan said it took over a year to develop the summer program and get it off the ground. Her forestry CTE series at Sheldon has been a huge hit after three years of running. She said she's looking to expand it even further in the coming years.

Arias Ninan said she was grateful to the professionals who partnered with the program to work with the students.

Notably, every professional at Thursday's program was a woman. Arias Ninan agreed it was rare to see in a predominantly male career, but things have been changing over time and she has seen more women join the industry.

"For me, it's exciting because when I worked in my home country (Peru), I was the only woman," Arias Ninan said. "That's changed because I think we all participate in our ability to conserve, and preserve and work in the forest."

Inspiring career paths

On Thursday afternoon, representatives from the Oregon Department of Forestry stopped by to talk to the students about wildland firefighting and other career paths at ODF.

This was a highly anticipated talk for several of the students, including to-be Sheldon High senior Jillian Whitney, who wants to become a firefighter. Once she heard they would be meeting wildland firefighters, it was all she could think about.

"If I'm not a firefighter, then I want to do it in my summer, help with the wildfires," Whitney said.

Last year, Whitney participated in the Eugene Springfield Fire's Young Women’s Fire Camp. She said it was inspiring to come to the Summer Forestry Immersion where there were so many women to look up to.

"It's really empowering," Whitney said. "I really like how it makes me feel like I actually have a chance (in the industry)."

Whitney had already taken some of Arias Ninan's CTE courses at Sheldon and hopes to take more during her senior year if her schedule allows for it.

Whitney said she was eager to join the summer program.

"I've been asking (Arias Ninan) about it ever since it was an idea," Whitney said. "I really, really wanted to be a part of it to support her program ... Getting to come out here on my summer break, get away, it sounds like a good idea. It really is a positive program."

John Perales, a to-be senior at Sheldon High, has taken all six of Arias Ninan's CTE courses. Arias Ninan said that Perales naturally became an informal leader among the students in the summer program.

When ODF led students through a relay to roll out firehoses, Perales was at the front of the pack, racing to help.

While Perales is passionate about forestry now and wants to go into the field, the interest is fairly recent. Perales said he transferred to Sheldon his sophomore year and was automatically put into the Intro to Forestry course. Other students throughout the day said Arias Ninan's courses can be challenging, but Perales disagreed.

"All you have to do is just pay attention, you can talk to the teacher and she'll give you anything you need," Perales said. "It's easy to take notes and ask questions."

Perales said in his future career, he's interested in working to raise trees like at the nursery that students visited, or working as an arborist. He is considering a degree through Idaho State University.

Miranda Cyr reports on education for The Register-Guard. You can contact her at mcyr@registerguard.com or find her on Twitter @mirandabcyr.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Future of forestry: Eugene high schoolers join new summer forestry program