Text Box: The Pigeon Point Lighthouse Text Box: The way of the Redwoods in the winter has been a frosty one, but the warming sounds of children’s voices has taken the edge off the chill in the air. ENH at Loma Mar is enjoying a clear, cold and relatively rainless season (knock on wood). Now in our fourth week of program since our rain saturated break, students have been busy exploring the creek (which has been quite low), the tidepools (which have also been quite low) and the redwoods (where the light has been quite low!). So despite the cold days, the student adventures have been on high heat! Speaking of heat, our newly relocated compost bin is cooking right along, now that we are working Text Box: with the YMCA to do full-site composting. This is keeping Alex, our garden coordinator, well supplied with “black gold” - dark, warm rich soil. The result is an awesome winter garden. Other changes to the site include two new yurts which we constructed near the garden. These yurts provide housing for two staff, and are powered by the Garden House solar array and heated with wood stoves. So as we keep the kids moving and the campfires warm, we continue to embrace the beauties of this enlightening season and send you all warm wishes. Text Box: 10-and 11-year old voices here again, as well as all the enthusiasm that the school groups share with us. We are thrilled that the Sierra Club Foundation has decided to renew our “Youth in Wilderness” grant for $30,000. This funding will help over 300 students from our scholarship schools in Salinas and Richmond explore the redwoods in the oldest state park, discover the tidepools at Natural Bridges, harvest food for dinner from the garden, and stay with their classmates for a 5-day environmental education experience. We feel very fortunate to maintain this partnership. We look forward to any visits from our extended community, as you are always welcome and the site is always evolving. Text Box: The winter months at Sempervirens Outdoor School have been extremely quiet in this New Year, as we are not running programs through the cold and wet winter months. Barry and Don have been very busy with winterizing the 12 student cabins. This has involved full replacement of the roofs and doors, new windows, insulation, and painting them as well. We hope to have heat in them by March! The days continue to be full of endless projects, including building a chicken coop (the hens have outgrown their garage dwelling!), improving the teacher housing and soliciting grants for student scholarships. Now that Groundhog’s day is upon us, I have found myself planning for our spring season. We are very eager to have the sounds of Text Box: Thoughts from Tad Drake: Program Director at ENH Text Box: Thoughts from Jessica Parsons: Program Director at SVOS Text Box: passage of time… As for the rest of our program, we are enjoying the winter waves (although it is important to watch out for sleepers!), the silver skies, the abundant fungus in the redwoods and the magnificent nose of the elephant seal. The Northern Elephant Seals have returned to Ano Nuevo for their yearly mating time and we are thrilled to be sharing our knowledge and enthusiasm with the many fourth and fifth graders who visit our program. Text Box: Thoughts from Jodi Behrens: Program Director at PPEEP Text Box: Pigeon Point Environmental Education Program has started with a bang, or should I say a crash! On December 22, Jeffrey Parry, one of our star naturalists, discovered that a big piece of the Pigeon Point lighthouse had come crashing down. By noon that day, another piece had fallen and smashed into the stone lintel of the west-facing tower window. The rangers at Ano Nuevo were called in to investigate and subsequently the lighthouse and grounds were immediately closed. As of this printing, we are still without a play field and there hasn’t been any decision on when or if the lighthouse will be reopened. What a sad reminder that even a rock solid beacon is subject to the Text Box: An SVOS student enjoys a garden tomato in the dining hall. Text Box: A group of ENH students in the famous Pescadero Marsh “talking tree”

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Volume 1, Issue 4