How Seneca Valley middle schoolers visited Yellowstone
Stepping off the airplane in Boseman, Montana, felt like stepping into another world for 13 sixth-grade students of Seneca Valley School District.
For most of them, it was the first time they would be away from their families for an extended period, but that wasn’t all. According to one of the young students, the towering mountains were a new sight, the air was chillier and even the grass felt different than it does in Western Pennsylvania.
And that was before they even got to their intended destination: Yellowstone National Park.
“From the moment we stepped off the plane we had an awesome view of the mountain range, which is something I'm never going to forget,” said Danika Perry, a sixth grader at Ehrman Crest Middle School. “They were absolutely beautiful and so so cool.”
Students from Ehrman Crest and Haine Middle School traveled to Yellowstone National Park with Ecology Project International, a nonprofit that helps provide science-focused travel programs for students and teachers. The students left on Feb. 14, and returned Feb. 19, according to Ken Cahall, a sixth grade teacher at Haine Middle School.
Cahall said the trip was optional for students, but Ecology Project International provides guides who drive the educational activities once classes touch down at their destination. He said that most of the activities helped the students engage with the environment and the unique landscape and climate of Yellowstone. The first day in the park had the group go snowshoeing, a new experience for most of the students, which led to even more untreaded territory.
“I was looking forward to it. We never really had enough snow in Pennsylvania,” said Ehrman Crest sixth grader Connor Hay. “It was amazing with the snow on the ground. We got to see some snow on bison which was amazing.”
The variety of plants and animals unique to the west lent to the feeling that the students were in another world.
“It was kind of like in a whole other world because there was a new variety of animals, trees, plants and the scenery was different too,” said Ehrman Crest sixth grader Castor Elwell. “The grass felt different, the mountains, we don't have those here.”
According to Cahall, engaging with the environment was paramount in the trip — so much so that students had to turn in their cell phones and mobile devices once they arrived. While some of the children were nervous about this at first, Cahall said it helped them connect not only with the park, but with one another.
“For that six-day period they didn't have their phones which was awesome,” Cahall said. “Half the group was from Haine and half was from Ehrman Crest. By the end of the experience it kind of turned into a more like an extended family.”
Each day of the trip began with a teambuilding activity, Cahall said, which warmed the students up for what they would be doing that day, and helped them get to know one another.
The students also got together before the trip at Fun Fore All, where they debriefed on the trip and what to expect there.
“We kind of learned about what to see, what to be ready for and all the tools we were going to maybe use there,” said Haine Middle sixth grader Chase Gnarra.
The teambuilding activities also helped the students get past their nervousness about being away from their homes for six days. Cahall said it was the first trip most of the students took without their families, but the short length of stay and growing comraderie between the everyone in attendance helped them gain confidence.
“The kids were great, I think the six-day trip was perfect for them,” Cahall said.
Despite the trip being as much about experiencing a new place as it was about education, the assignments the students had while in Yellowstone were enjoyable. Cahall said the students teamed up in pairs and each pair researched an animal that lives in Yellowstone, so they could create a poster board about that animal to present to the rest of the class when they returned from the trip.
As the guides with Ecology Project International led the students through the park, binoculars in hand to glimpse faraway animals and landscapes, the students had it in their mind what to look for.
Along with bison, the students kept on the lookout for wolves, which was a popular animal to choose for research.
“Someone said they spotted some wolves and I thought it was pretty awesome to see wolves,” Danika said.
Owen Wiles, a sixth grade student at Haine Middle, chose to research moose, but found that their population is decreasing in Yellowstone proper.
“I learned that because we went to this archive place that the moose have been migrating toward the greater Tetons lately,” Owen said. “So the population is smaller and that was pretty cool to learn.”
Lucy Martolf, another Haine Middle School sixth grader, said she wanted to research cougars, but found that their population was also decreasing in the park.
“I always thought they were really fascinating, I just thought they were really cool in how they hunted,” Lucy said. “Prior to when the wolf population decreased, it was also affected for the cougars too.”
Chase chose the grizzly bear for his research.
“We did grizzly bears. We kind of learned how their habitat is in Yellowstone and their diet,” Chase said.
Another highlight of the trip was visiting a hot spring, which was memorable in how large the temperature disparity was between the water and the air.
“It was snowing and to get in you had to step in the snow which was really cold but then you get in the hotness,” said Ehrman Crest sixth grader Aymara Signori.
After long days exploring Yellowstone, the students would return each day to a cabin, where they had “down time.”
That down time was usually spent doing even more activities, which helped them get to know each other even better.
“When me and my friends during downtime we just started talking and playing cards and that's how I got to know them pretty well,” said Wyatt Tornifolio, a sixth grade student at Ehrman Crest.
Many of the students of both schools commented on how much they enjoyed just hanging out with one another in their home base away from home.
Several of the students also said a highlight was meeting Rick McIntyre, a wolf researcher who has authored several books on wolves and articles published in sources like “National Geographic.“
“My favorite part was on our wolf day we went and found a documentary crew that was making a documentary about wolves and we got to listen to them,“ Danika said. ”We got to talk to wolf watcher Rick McIntyre.“
With the classes each returning to their respective schools, Cahall said the task now is seeing what they come up with for their presentations. He said this could be the first of many annual trips for sixth grade students at the two schools, because of the wide interest in visiting Yellowstone.
“We're looking to also get the kids together over the course of the next couple weeks to put together a presentation,” Cahall said. “The hope is to continue this in the future.”
