Partnering with DNDA’s environmental educators for forest restoration field trips
Call them lessons in “applied ecology.”
Students from Roxhill at E.C. Hughes Elementary investigating soil during a planting event hosted by DNDA.
At the start of 2024, Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association (DNDA) worked at Camp Long with multiple classrooms of fifth graders from Fairmount Park Elementary. The fifth graders planted ferns, native shrubs — including salmonberry and thimbleberry — and various conifers trees.
Students joined the regular restoration work parties that DNDA hosts throughout the year as part of the citywide Green Seattle Partnership. The trees they planted can live for hundreds of years, and they will eventually help form a forest canopy, which is the vital upper layer of a forest.
Teacher Kate Ravenscroft — who has been bringing her classes to annual restoration events for several years — said restoration events are a valuable, hands-on way for her students to learn about their local environment. For most students, Camp Long is the nearest greenspace to their homes.
“They have a great experience getting outside and taking care of their environment,” she said. “It’s important for them to understand their natural environment and how they can play a role in keeping it healthy.”
Fifth graders from Fairmount Park Elementary planting ferns at Camp Long at a DNDA restoration event.
DNDA brings our Urban Forest Restoration Program to students once a year, making the adventures well-suited for field trips. In many cases, DNDA arranges a walking trip to one of our restoration sites, where our Nature team leads students in an environmental restoration activity.
DNDA’s Nature team works at about a dozen sites in Delridge and West Seattle year-round. In 2023, we worked with nearly 30 classrooms, and the list of participating schools has expanded to include Pathfinder K-8, Louisa Boren STEM K-8, Roxhill at E.C. Hughes Elementary, Highland Park Elementary, and many others.
“It is like science class, but better, because we are outside and actually doing something,” said one fifth grader from Roxhill at E.C. Hughes Elementary School.
These events contribute to Green Seattle Partnership’s goal of establishing healthy and stable urban forests across the city. DNDA is focused on finding age-appropriate activities that allow students of all ages to do constructive work that genuinely improves our shared natural environment.
Even kindergarteners can spread wood chip mulch, after all!
Kindergarteners from Louisa Boren STEM K-8 helped restore a site in the Longfellow Creek Forest by spreading wood chip mulch around new native plants.
In addition to working with the land, students also often participate in an EcoArts activity. Projects have included making paintbrushes out of natural materials and creating sculptures out of items found in nature. EcoArts sessions deepen each student’s unique relationship with the local environment.
The work done throughout the year by DNDA’s restoration program would not be possible without the many students who are willing to get outside, try something new, and do something good for our local lands. DNDA is grateful for all the hardworking teachers who have partnered with us already, and we are eager to connect with other teachers who are interested in a hands-on learning experience for their classes.
Learn more at dnda.org/nature. If you are interested in planning an activity for your classroom, community organization, or team, contact DNDA’s Restoration Program Manager Ben Antonius at ben@dnda.org, or fill out our volunteer inquiry form at dnda.org/dnda-nature/volunteer.
— Written by DNDA’s Restoration Program Manager Ben Antonius