What a unique opportunity for a family event at Kennedy Creek! On a beautiful day in between stormy ones, approximately thirteen families totaling forty people got together to discover and enjoy the spring signs of life at the natural area in Kennedy Creek. With ten staff and volunteers available to set up hands-on learning experiences, participants had enough space to distribute children and adults alike to enjoy all the activities.
PEI Multicultural Engagement Coordinator Lourdes Flores partnered with Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Youth Education and Outreach Program manager, Clare Sobetski, to continue their series of events “Encuéntranos en…” which invites school families to participate in outdoor learning with their students in beautiful places near their neighborhoods.
“I live very close and have never visited this place. It’s so beautiful and accessible.”
— Woodard Bay Interpretive Event Visitor
During different activities throughout the event, participants made comments like, “I live very close and had never visited this place,” “I didn’t know this place was here,” and “[It’s] so beautiful and accessible.” While enjoying an empanada at the end of the event, a young participant asked her mom “When are we coming back?”
Returning from the walk, participants got to enjoy pastries and empanadas and had the opportunity to revisit stations or discover stations they hadn’t previously visited, all in an atmosphere of friendship and camaraderie on a wonderful day during Shelton School District’s Spring Break.
We are thankful to the docents and staff that volunteered to make this program a success, through their hard work to set up amazing learning stations: Emily Fales from DNR who managed the registration and information table, distributing a set of color prints of the signs translated to Spanish; Squaxin Tribe members Patricia Green and Candance Penn who guided the interpretive walk, offering information on the history of the place and the Squaxin Island tribe as well as traditional uses of plants; Emily Garlich’s guidance in exploring life in the forest soil with participants; Zua for the fantastic display of the different mosses and lichens; the Salmon Enhancement Group team, Jessica, and her always popular salmon game; Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Lindsay Walker and Skylar McFadden who taught participants how to use binoculars and had a display of wonderful bilingual resources about wild birds; and to Stephanie Bishop of South Sound Green who ran with the most popular station of stream macroinvertebrates! Thank you to PEI’s own Lauren Troyer for her art and salmon leaf print activity!