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Boundary Waters

Where has Buddy Bison been? Guess this park. (Photo courtesy Wilderness Inquiry)


A holiday break from school means more time to explore outdoors! Make it your goal to get outside at least once a day – maybe even consider making it your New Year’s resolution. I made a resolution to help more kids get outside to parks in 2015. And to help kids get started, check out my Kids to Parks Day National School Contest which will be open to all schools and grades (preK through 12) in the United States starting January 6! You could win a park scholarship for your class or grade! See more details below.

And remember Buddy Bison makes a terrific stocking stuffer for your friends and family. To get yours in time for the holiday, click here.

“Explore outdoors, the parks are yours!” Happy Holidays!

Your friend,


Buddy Bison

Fourth-grade students from Alderwood Elementary at Lime Kiln Point State Park, WA.

Win a Free Class Trip to a Park

Finding great outdoor places can be easy but getting there and funding the experience for your students can be tricky. Let us help! In January our Kids to Parks Day National School Contest will open. The contest is available to all schools across the country grades preK through 12 and is a great way to win a scholarship up to $1000 for a park trip designed by students. Details will be posted on parktrust.org after the winter break on January 6. Last year 43 schools were selected as winners.

See what Krista Gordon, a teacher at Alderwood Elementary in Bellingham, WA (pictured above) said about last year's contest:

“Winning the grant was more than just a financial boost for these students. It let them know the value of trying and having the decision go their way. The field trip itself expanded the world of so many of them, taught them a few things, and gave them some wonderful memories. It has been a very meaningful journey!”

These students not only enjoyed their park trip but also stayed hydrated using the premium water bottles donated by our sponsor, CamelBak!

Beacon Heights Elementary 5th-grade students at Glenridge Recreation Center, MD after their stewardship project.

Look Who’s Adopting-a-Park: School Spotlight on Beacon Heights

Can a few dedicated students make a difference to a park? How about an entire grade made up of passionate park stewards? Last month, I joined over 70 smiling and adventurous Buddy Bison fifth-grade students from Beacon Heights Elementary, MD on a field trip to Glenridge Recreation Center, a local park in their community. This school year, the fifth grade has teamed up with Prince George’s County Department of Parks and Recreation to help clean up this park as part of the Partners ‘n Parks Program. By adopting the park, students and teachers will return to cleanup several times throughout the school year in addition to promoting good park stewardship practices at school and in their community.

If that weren’t enough, the students plan to turn these field trips into class research projects, aimed to better inform their classmates, friends and family on the importance of keeping our parks clean. They will work with park rangers to analyze important information such as the amount of trash and the types of trash in the park. This will help the students hypothesize where the trash originated and how it may have ended up in the park. They also will continue their science observation and tree identification activities during future visits. Stay tuned for updates this spring as the weather warms up and the trees start to blossom. Check out more photos from their latest field trip here.

Thank you Pepco for your continued support of this school each year. Your sponsorship benefits the kids AND the park!

 

Fifth-grader Kimberly from Beacon Heights Elementary, MD proudly wears her Buddy Bison t-shirt!

My Buddy Bison Story: Student Spotlight on Beacon Heights

In addition to their park stewardship through the Partners ‘n Parks Program, the fifth-grade Buddy Bison students at Beacon Heights Elementary also have been very busy with outdoor recreation activities. Last month, they took me canoeing on the Anacostia River. Kimberly Taylor (pictured above), recently wrote a letter about her canoeing adventures from my perspective – of course!

“We loaded onto the bus and get ready for departure. Everyone chats, making the room buzz. When we get there, the water glistened and shimmered. Birds chirped, insects buzzed, and the kids looked around in awe. It was breathtaking!

We paddled endlessly, mesmerized by the wilderness. There were turtles, fish, tadpoles and birds. Sadly, I couldn’t paddle, but I imagined I could. We paddled and I felt like the ride would never end (not that I wanted it to). Sadly, the canoeing part ended, but if I could, I would be grinning ear to ear. I was soaked, but was having the time of my stuffed animal life! Now it was time for the nature hike.

There were berries and trees, birds and insects, everything. Unfortunately, there weren’t any bison around, but I didn’t mind very much. When we got back to meet up with the other groups everyone was tired but elated…If I do say so myself, this trip was an absolute success. Buddy Bison out!”


Thank you Kimberly! I could not have described the day better myself! Do YOU have a Buddy Bison adventure that you would like to share? Send it to me at Buddy@buddybison.org.

Buddy Bison's Photography Corner

Do you want to learn how to capture that perfect park picture? So do I! That's why I am so excited to share our FIRST Buddy Bison Photography Corner thanks to our very own National Park Trust Artist Ambassador, Frank Lee Ruggles. We will be featuring a new tip every month!

Here is what Frank has to share this month:

One of the best ways to remember the fun times we have while exploring America's National Parks is with photographs. By taking snapshots of your adventures, you can share the experience with your friends and family after you return back home. There are so many neat things to see, and it's really fun to take pictures of your friends and families while they are enjoying the parks. You may have noticed however, that sometimes the photographs don't seem to look so great because the person in the photo is nothing but a black shadow. (See Figure A below.)

This is generally caused by shooting with the sun in front of you. The rest of the scene will look alright, but the person appears too dark because they are "back-lit". Luckily, fixing this problem and creating a nice sunny day portrait is pretty easy, and here are two ways to do it. 

  1. The easiest and fastest way to fix your "Shadowy Person" is to simply turn on the flash in your camera. Normally, one wouldn't think you use a flash in bright light, but it can really do the trick! As long as you aren't too far away, (less than 10 feet) your flash will light up the shady side of your person but won't affect the rest of the scene. (See Figure B below.)
     
  2. You can turn yourself and your "Shadowy Person" so that the sun isn't directly behind them, and far enough that you cannot see the sun in your viewfinder when you frame the shot. Sometimes it only takes a few degrees of change to get your subject out of the shadow area. (See Figure C below.

Figure A Figure B Figure C

Great photos rarely happen by accident. To make a good photograph, the photographer has to always be thinking about where the light is!"

Thank you Frank! Now it’s time to get outdoors and capture those park memories. Be sure to send your photos to Buddy@buddybison.org along with the name of the park. Also, don’t forget to follow Frank Lee Ruggles and National Park Trust on Facebook.

 

Robert from the Earth Conservation Corps showing "Mr. Hoots" to Buddy Bison students at Rawlins Park, Washington D.C.

Inner City Kids Celebrating Wilderness!

I kicked off December by celebrating the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Wilderness Act! What better to celebrate this historic occasion than with 150 Buddy Bison students from Potomac Preparatory, Washington, D.C.; Bucknell Elementary, VA; and Beacon Heights Elementary, MD who joined me at Rawlins Park in Washington D.C. Even though they live in the inner city, they had a great time learning about the wilderness thanks to our partners, Wilderness Inquiry, Earth Conservation Corps, National Parks Conservation Association, National Park Service, and Wilderness Classrooms.

The kids also heard from Thomas Tidwell, chief of the U.S. Forest Service; Bob Vogel, superintendent of the National Mall and Memorial Parks; and Dave and Amy Freemen – who paddled from the Boundary Waters in Minnesota to Washington D.C. in 100 days – about how we will need their help to protect our parks, public lands and water.

Did you know that the Wilderness Act immediately placed 9.1 million acres of wild American lands into the National Wilderness Preservation System, protecting them as designated wilderness forever? Read more about the Wilderness Act and why it’s so important.



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