Twenty-five L.A. youth from Walt Whitman Continuation High School will participate in a three-day outdoor experiential program in the Giant Sequoia Groves in the southern Sierra Nevada Mountains. WildPlaces, a non-profit grassroots education and habitat restoration organization will organize and lead students on myriad field sessions including increasing wilderness ethic, culture connections to nature and critical thinking through messaging and creative communication.
This will be Walt Whitman’s second year participating in WildPlaces’ Immersed in the Wild youth program. WildPlaces provides volunteer experts in wildlife tracking, astronomy, blacksmithing, documentary filmmaking, basic media strategy, habitat restoration, all housed in the basic premise that youth:
a. Need skills to be better witnesses and messengers of the issues relevant to them.
b. Need more outdoor experiential opportunities to balance the numbing effects of too much standardized, in-class testing programs.
c. Are the future advocates and leaders for creating a balanced and equitable future.
The Trail of 100 Giants and Quaking Aspen Campground in the Giant Sequoia National Monument will be the outdoor classrooms and base camp location this June 1-3, 2007. Funding is through WildPlaces membership, private donation and modest foundation support. WildPlaces seeks additional financial partners in ensuring continued youth develop projects like Immersed in the Wild.
There are additional Immersed in the Wild outing scheduled for June 15-17th at Kennedy Meadows and July 8 – 14th on the American River.
Public and media are invited to visit the effort during scheduled times on Saturday, June 2nd and Sunday, June 3rd. Call Mehmet at 760.447.1702 and info@wildplaces.net for information on scheduled visiting hours and directions.
WildPlaces is a not-for-profit, tax-exempt organization based in Springville, CA in the southern Sierra Nevada whose mission is to protect and restore CA’s rural and wild places and support the peoples who are part of these landscapes through volunteer-driven habitat restoration, environmental and cultural education, land-use advocacy and career development.
Media Contact:
Mehmet McMillan, Director
P.O. Box 853
Springville, CA 93265
Mobile: 760.447.1702
mehmet@wildplaces.net
