Bridging Divides: How the Rural Organizing Project Empowers Oregon’s Communities For groups in Oregon that are working to effectively organize for issues facing rural communities, such as migrant justice, worker’s rights, or keeping rural post office locations open, the Rural Organizing Project has been a key partner, fulfilling many roles. “We see ourselves as the… Read more »
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Rustic, Remote, and Quite Comfortable – Striking a Balance for Outdoor School Students at OMSI’s Hancock Field Station Hancock Field Station, the camp owned and operated by Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI), is located in North-Central Oregon and hosts Outdoor School for students across the state. It’s an extraordinary camp experience, as students… Read more »
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Rural STEAM Leadership Network: An Educator’s Perspective The Pacific Ocean shoreline is within five miles of North Bay Elementary in Southern Oregon’s Coos County, surrounded by the ancestral homelands of the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians (CTCLUSI). Sitka Spruce and sand dunes line the coastline, and freshwater rivers spill into estuaries,… Read more »
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Traditional Ecological Knowledge is the Key to Successful Stewardship of the Long Tom Watershed, and Youth Are Helping to Lead the Way The Traditional Ecological Inquiry Program (TEIP) internship started in 2017 with its first cohort of Native Youth gathering within the Long Tom Watershed in Western Oregon to pursue projects that connect restoration work,… Read more »
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Designing for Connection: Hatfield Futures Students Propose Solutions to Critical Challenges Facing Oregon Communities At the second Hatfield Futures Showcase held this spring at Portland State University, a team of high school students from Bend Technical Academy proposed a solution to the fentanyl overdose crisis. It didn’t involve supervised injection sites, or fentanyl strips. It… Read more »
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One of Emma Garner’s favorite memories as Education Program Manager at Middle Fork Willamette Watershed Council (MFWWC) was when a group of middle schoolers were getting off the bus for a field trip in the forest. There were 100 kids and none of them had been in the woods before. “It was a sunny day,… Read more »
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A Partnership Built on Youth Community Organizing: Rogue Climate and Rogue Action Center For young people living in Southern Oregon, the impacts of climate change – wildfires, smoke, flooding, drought, and heat – have been front and center for most of their lives, impacting everything from the local economy to their own mental health and… Read more »
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In late 2023, an extensive renovation project to build eight new cabins was completed at Camp Namanu, a Multnomah Education School District (MESD) Outdoor School site. The renovation, known as The Sherwood Project, aims to increase access to outdoor learning for students across the school district by constructing ADA accessible cabins, with features that accommodate… Read more »
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During a cultural enrichment night in early 2023, American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) students and their families gathered in a student kitchen at a Salem-Keizer School District (SKSD) high school to learn how to make sunflower cookies and berry compote from an Indigenous chef. As the cookies baked, a Nez Perce Tribal Member shared… Read more »
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In past years, Oregon students have primarily learned the West-facing view of Oregon’s history—the one that focuses on the white pioneer expansion experience. That tide is shifting. In 2017, the state enacted Oregon Senate Bill 13, an agreement between the state and tribes to ensure native perspectives are a part of the history curriculum across… Read more »
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