Cairn Corner: October 2024

October 17, 2024

Cairn's October Environmental Stewardship Events

Cairn students and mentors were able to choose between two different options for their October monthly event: Attending the Youth Exploring Stewardship (YES) Conference or joining Sand Creek Regional Greenway Partnership (SCRGP) in their Community Science Project.

Photo by James Tsui

The 6^th annual YES Conference was held at Cal-Wood Education Center, led by different organizations of the YES Coalition (including VOC). Cairn students joined other students from all over the Front Range to either attend Saturday only or stay overnight. On Saturday, students were split up into different outdoor skill activities, including: Leave No Trace, forestry & fire mitigation, forest bathing, and orienteering.

Photo by James Tsui

Photo by James Tsui

Afterwards, the students assisted with Cal-Wood's goal to build nearly 5 miles of new trail on their outdoor education campus in Jamestown, CO. The 200 yards of new trail the students constructed runs right through the 2020 CalWood Fire burn scar area. Hard hats adorned, they learned how to use different trail tools, break tread, and remove small trees for the new trail. Their work here will improve Cal-Wood's educational programming for younger students for years to come!

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Photos by James Tsui and Austin Hannon

Overnight students were able to enjoy some s'mores in the evening and continue their learning on Sunday. Hayley from Colorado Young Leaders led a natural resource career workshop before Angie Busby from Cal-Wood led a First Aid class, allowing the students to walk away with a Stop The Bleed certification. Huge thank you to the many program leaders and adult chaperones who made this conference possible!

Nature's Symphony

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The following weekend, the other half of VOC's Cairn Program gathered at Sand Creek Park in Aurora to participate in SCRGP's Community Science Project. This project is part of their ongoing effort to monitor the watershed health of the Sand Creek and engage the community in doing so! Students and mentors gathered different data points to test water quality and surveyed the riparian areas for different plant species. They also tried their hand at catching different macroinvertebrates, including water striders and damselfly larvae. The variety and number of macroinvertebrate species will often be an indicator of the health of the water. Thank you to Zoe Bliss with SCRGP for leading our crew of scientists for the day!

Nature's Symphony

Breathtaking colors of our planet

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Faces of Humanity

Portraits of people from around the globe

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Photos by Emily Novack

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Dos Chappell Bathhouse in Denver's Washington Park

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