Leave No Trace visits the Kansas City public schools

On our way through Kansas we had the opportunity to visit with students from the Kansas City public schools and talk about Leave No Trace. The students were very excited to learn about the programs common sense approach to enjoying nature in a responsible way!

Above a snapshot into our visit with almost one hundred students from Whittier elementary as the Traveling Trainers facilitated an awareness workshop for kindergartners and fourth grade students. The focus of the workshop was on the PEAK principle "trash your trash" as the students had selected keeping nature free of trash as a goal for their school.

Special thanks to Teri Fulton for all her hard work to bring the Traveling Trainers to town for these events!

All the best,

Jason and Agata

Snow Delay In New Mexico?

Everyone that learns we are in New Mexico is excited that we have been able to migrate to warmer weather. With an arctic freeze covering nearly all of the country, we are here to tell you that not even the "seasonably warm" places are enjoying their usual 50-60 degree temperatures! We spent today, after a two hour snow delay, presenting to an entire elementary school. Not all at once, of course, but we reached all 147 kids at the Tesuque Elementary School just north of Santa Fe. The picture above shows one student, nature name-Pecos River, getting ready to attach his Leave No Trace kids hang tag to his back pack. A special thanks to parent, Mickey Fong, and principal, Colleen Korce, for taking the time to schedule a Leave No Trace visit from the Traveling Trainers. If you are interested in hosting a Leave No Trace event, please click here for more information on how to put in a request.

Explore Responsibly...Kate and Tracy

Leave No Trace in Jayhawk Country

On Saturday February 5, 2011 Team East was in Pratt, Kansas working with the Boy Scouts of America. The afternoon was focused on teaching general awareness around responsible outdoor recreation through the seven program principles of Leave No Trace. The discussions also addressed personal responsibility for our actions in nature and how to develop a sense of stewardship for public lands. In the photo above, we have Team East and the event host David Hearn outside of the event. Below a moment of connection between generations of Scouting as the pair teaches from their discussion around how to use Leave No Trace in the field.


A very warm thank you to David Hearn for the invitation to visit the Jayhawk state!

All the best,

Jason and Agata

Letters from a 5th Grade Class

Friday was spent with astute students from Red Rocks elementary school in Morrison, CO. We worked with kindergarten students that listened rather excitedly to "Trek and Tracks Great Adventure" as Trek and Track climbed their way up Misty Mountain, all the while learning about the 7 principles of Leave No Trace. We then visited the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade classes. The 5th graders promptly wrote letters to us recounting what they learned and before the day was through, they were hand delivered. Here are a few of the impressions we left on these young children:

"I am also going to change. I will pick up trash when I see it on the ground. I won't throw my banana peels on the ground anymore because I don't want the animals to get sick."

"I will always remember the 4 R's-Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, REFUSE. Thank-you for teaching me all that!"

"I also will not leave trash the next time I go camping, hiking, and bike because it may take many years or forever to decompose."

Lastly, our favorite quote came from the one student that exclaimed:

"Thank you for coming to teach our class. I had more fun than a monkey on his birthday!!"

Kids say the darndest things.

Explore Responsibly...Kate and Tracy

Photo of the Week 2/5/11

Looking out my window

Strategies and Philosophies

Last week we met up with Team East, the Education Department, and the Outreach Department (yes, we now have an Outreach Department!) in El Jebel, CO, a small town outside of Aspen, for three days of Strategic Planning for the upcoming 2011 Traveling Trainer season. This was a rare occurrence as this is only the second time in Traveling Trainer history that both teams are returning for another season! Because of this, we were able to dive into more than the skills and ethics involved with teaching Leave No Trace. We strategized about new initiatives for the 2011 season and philosophized ways to improve the Traveling Trainer program. Both teams officially hit the road this week so stay tuned for exciting times ahead!

Explore Responsibly...Kate & Tracy

Looking out my backdoor...

Waking in the mountains outside of Boulder, Colorado this morning, we were greeted by temperatures well south of zero degrees Fahrenheit. Fortunately for the Subaru/Leave No Trace traveling trainers we are well equipped for such an occasion with apparel from head to toe! Thanks to the generous support of outfitting partners like Smartwool we are able to enjoy our favorite outdoor activities in total comfort and warmth in any conditions. The socks and base layers we receive will keep the teams warm and stylish for any adventures we embark upon as the 2011 season gets started.

All the best,

Agata and Jason