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Volume
3, Issue 1
Fall 2002
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Dedicated
to enriching the lives of young people through an
awareness of the beauty and diversity of
nature.
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Inside
this issue:
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Thank
you for the great time we had last week.
We learned a lot and had fun. We'll never
forget our week with you.
-
Berkeley 6th class
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Special
Points of Interest
- Beth
Riscassi joined the SVOS staff in
August as the new Program
Director
- Cindy
Parker-Brown joined ENH in July as the
new Finance Mgr.
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Fall
is always a time of great change: the first signs
of yellow on the trees, the waning daylight hours,
and the dawning of a new school year with new
faces. This fall ENH also finds itself in the midst
of exciting and significant change.
 First
and foremost is the establishment a new ENH
administration office at the Sempervirens Outdoor
School. Within this office we now have a full-time
finance manger who is renovating our bookkeeping
system and human resources services. The changes
are steady and impressive! However, all change
comes with some sadness, and in our case we sadly
say goodbye to Arlene Tucker, our long-time
bookkeeper, friend and surrogate mom. Arlene was
there when her daughter Laura and friend Gary
Nightengale sat at her kitchen table and with
Arlene's help wrote the original Articles of
Incorporation for Exploring New Horizons in 1979.
Now, after 23 years, Arlene is retiring and is
enjoying a new career as a full-time SF Giants
fan!
Our second
major change involves reviewing and revamping all
of our infrastructure. Over the last several years
ENH has grown, but the numerous documents that
support the program have remained the same. No
longer! With professional assistance provided by
the INNW Fund, we recently reviewed, rewrote and
began implementing new By-laws, Articles of
Incorporation, school service agreements, job
descriptions and employee handbooks. You can read
more about these and other exciting changes right
here, on our newly redesigned web site.
But through all
of these changes, there is one thing that has not
changed at ENH, and never will: the magic and joy
of sharing the wonders of the natural world with
children
-
Don Kleinfelder, Executive Director
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Support
the ENH Scholarship Fund
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You
may have noticed a remit envelope enclosed
in this newsletter. This is part of ENH's
efforts to develop a support base for our
scholarship fund.
In
1996 ENH provided $4,600 in scholarships
to economically disadvantaged students.
Over
the past few years that amount has
steadily grown, and this past year ENH
provided nearly $70,000 in scholarships
which enabled approximately 350
economically disadvantaged students to
attend outdoor education with their
classmates. We expect the need for
financial
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assistance
to go up again this year To maintain this
level of support, we are asking for your
help.
There
are several ways for you to help
contribute to our scholarship
fund:
- By
good old fashion US mail, using the
enclosed remit envelope,
- On-line,
through this cool new web site
(donations are secure through
Entango)
- By
email, (contact Cindy Parker-Brown, our
new finance manger at cindy@exploringnewhorizons.org),
or
- By
calling (831) 338-3013.
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 We
greatly appreciate your generous support
!
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In
Appreciation of the
Wonderful
Arlene Tucker
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In
1979, ENH founders Laura Tucker and Gary
Nightengale sat at the kitchen table of
Laura's mom, Arlene, and filled out a pile
of forms to create Exploring New
Horizons.
From
that moment on, Arlene has been intimately
involved with ENH, first as a mom
providing the two "kids" with confidence
and cash (she and her husband Harding
donated $2,000 to get the program off the
ground), then as an office manager,
lending her typewriters and telephones,
and soon after as bookkeeper, a role she
held until last August. To many who called
us regarding contracts and general
business, she was the Voice of
ENH.
Now
Arlene is enjoying her new role as the
biggest Giants fan in the Central
Valley.
For
any of you who were fortunate enough to
chat with Arlene over the years, you know
how much she loved this program and all of
us. We wish Arlene a wonderful
retirement!
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Thank
you, Venture School!
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Donors
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In
San Ramon, just off Crow Canyon Road,
there is a school that has a very
important connection to the Exploring New
Horizons network. The school is called
Venture, and it offers its students, from
Kindergarten through Adult Education,
alternatives to classroom study. We are
grateful to Venture for providing us with
enthusiastic and responsible cabin
counselors year after year.
Each
week during the academic year, our
residential programs in Loma Mar and
Boulder Creek need a combined average of
30-40 motivated high school students to be
cabin counselors. The counselors choose to
volunteer a week of their busy lives to be
a big brother or sister, mentor, and
friend to the 5th and 6th graders
participating in our programs. Although it
is an exhausting and difficult
responsibility, it is equally
rewarding.
Ron
Houston heads the counselor recruitment
program at Venture High School as part of
the Venture Independent Study program. For
many years, Ron has served as our most
valuable high school contact person, often
convincing students at the very last
minute to spend five days with kids in the
Santa Cruz mountains.
Alicia
Dickerson, currently the Program and
Garden Coordinator for Sempervirens
Outdoor School, has recruited counselors
for both ENH at Loma Mar and SVOS. "Ron
has been exceptionally giving in his effort
to recruit quality high school students
for our counselor program", she says. "We
cannot thank him enough for all the help
he has offered".
This
past spring, after so many years of
sending Venture high school students to
ENH, Ron organized a group of 5th and 6th
grade level Venture students to
participate in our Loma Mar program for
the first time. A former ENH student
himself, Ron realized the benefit of
experiencing outdoor education at a young
age.
Thank
you, Ron and Venture School!
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We
would like to extend a tremendous "Thank
You!" to all the generosity the following
groups have shown towards ENH
programs.
- Sierra
Club Foundation for their generous
donation to our scholarship
fund
- Chez
Panisse Foundation for a grant for the
SVOS Garden House
- Patagonia
for naturalist backpacks
- Adrian
and Josh Kissler of On-Course, Inc. for
setting up our low-level ropes course
at the Sempervirens Outdoor
School
- Sierra
Singles of the Sierra Club: Loma Prieta
Chapter, for volunteer work on our
trails,
- Seeds
of Change for seed donations for our
garden,
- Baseball
Sports Hall of Fame for recreation
equipment,
- North
Pleasanton and Downtown Pleasanton
Rotary Clubs for their generous support
of our scholarship fund,
and
- The
Board of Directors of Exploring New
Horizons
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Wish
List
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- PC
(Pentium II or better, 48+ MB
Ram)
- Large
bell or gong to call assemblies
- Building
materials (used or new!) for the new
SVOS garden house
- High
quality raingear
- Nice
furniture for teacher
housing
- PC
compatible color
printer
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"Thank
you so much for taking such good
care of our (high school)
students. They all had such a
great time...You apparently have
an outstanding staff, as my kids
say they were the best they've
ever seen."
-
Career counselor,
Altaville
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Thoughts
From Tad Drake: Program Director at ENH
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 We
are now in our fifth week here at Loma
Mar, and once again we hear the lovely
sound of children's voices rising up
through the redwoods. It's good to be
back!
We
have a strong veteran staff this year;
everyone of our naturalists is a returnee!
We also have two new interns, who round
out our great staff. And so, lead by these
fine folks, the students are having great
adventures in the marsh, at the creek and
ocean, and under the glorious
redwoods.
Our
garden is looking particularly pretty this
fall, thanks in large part to the efforts
of two staff members, Troy Smith and Alex
Jones, who have installed an awesome drip
irrigation system. Alex has also brought
hot and cold running water to the garden
house so we can keep those little hands
clean! The pond by the bird blind is now
finished, and our spring chickens have
begun laying fresh eggs! Our staff is also
keeping warm thanks to a generous donation
of a new wood stove by my new bride, Mary
Drake.
And
finally, it was a great honor last October
5th to have my new and old ENH family
present to witness my marriage to the
lovely Mary Fehringer. Thank you all for
helping us start our "happily ever after"
lives
together!
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Thoughts
From Jodi Behrens: Program Director at
PPEEP
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 Autumn
has arrived at Pigeon Point and change is
in the air.
As of
last December the lighthouse was closed to
public for tours after a large piece fell
off from the upper balcony area. Bids are
finally being accepted for the job, but
the work is on hold until the Coast Guard
decides the future of the lighthouse. Now
that most ships are guided by global
positioning systems, the Coast Guard feels
the structures are no longer necessary.
So, as many of you have read in the
newspapers, the lighthouses are being
sold, primarily to state governments and
historical societies. Now Pigeon Point's
time has finally come. As of this
printing, California State Parks hopes to
acquire the site, and we have been told
that if this happens, it shouldn't
significantly impact PPEEP.
Another
change is that our terrific
naturalist/surfer/historian friend Jeffrey
Parry has accepted the position of manger
of the Pigeon Point Youth Hostel. We have
always had a great relationship with
Hosteling International, and having a
former staff and good friend in this
position is wonderful.
The
last change is trying to get accustomed to
not having Arlene Tucker, our dedicated
bookkeeper and life long friend of
Exploring New Horizons around. Arlene, you
will truly be missed!
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Thoughts
From Beth Riscassi:
Program Director at SVOS
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The
new school year has begun here at the
Sempervirens Outdoor School! After a very
eventful summer, we are heading into our
second fall season in style. The new
office trailer is up and running with
finishing touches that include two
beautiful new redwood decks! Our new
office is also the headquarters for
Exploring New Horizons as well as being
the main SVOS information hub. It comes
equipped with a wing for our executive
director and financial manager, a staff
meeting area and library, as well as a
clothing store and coffee maker. It sounds
bigger than it is but we are all
thoroughly enjoying our cozy new
space.
I am
very excited to announce the addition of a
challenge course to the SVOS program!
Adrian Kissler of ON COURSE INC. with his
son Josh, built a ten-element course that
features a "spider's web", a "rock-tree
traverse", a "whale watch", and "wild
woosy" to name just a few. The students
with their naturalist will be focusing on
teambuilding skills as they communicate,
cooperate, and take a chance to accomplish
the various challenges.
 I
would also like to welcome three new
additions to our SVOS family. Steve
"Snake" Maes, Oliver "Huckleberry"
Steinfels and Alison "Kestrel" Young bring
lots of experience and character to our
program. Returning to SVOS this fall are
Alicia, Saralyse, Melanie, Scott and Ulli.
This year Ulli is in a new position as
garden coordinator.
As the
new program director for SVOS, I am very
excited for the upcoming year and am
confident that with this very talented and
dedicated staff it will be the best year
yet!
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Family
Tidepool Day at Pigeon Point
Lighthouse
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 The
First Annual Family Tidepool Day at Pigeon
Point Lighthouse was a great success. It
was an exceptionally sunny and warm May
day at the coast , with a nice low tide to
enjoy and explore. About 20 families
joined the ENH staff and Board members for
morning tidepooling, lunch, and a
slideshow to highlight a child's
experience at our residential programs. We
enjoyed sandcastle-making on the beach,
experienced a few splashes on the slippery
rocks, saw sea lions porpoising close to
shore, and discovered many creatures in
the pools. What a day!
We
would like to thank all the participants
for sharing this incredible day with us.
We would also like to thank our amazing
and talented staff for volunteering their
natural history expertise at the
tidepools. Thanks to Peet's Coffee and
Tea, New Leaf Markets, and Trader Joe's
for their generous donations of food and
drink, and last, but certainly not least,
we say thanks to Hostelling International
for donating the space for our event.
 Please
join us next year!
If
you know someone who would like to receive
our newsletter and other ENH
announcements, please email Cindy Parker-Brown
at cindy@exploringnewhorizons.org.
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