Back to School
Hello Friends,
It's that time of year again! Students are anticipating the first day of school while stocking up on notebooks, water bottles, tracking sticks, field guides, and rain gear. Well, at least Mountain SOL students are preparing their backpacks with those items!
Mountain SOL staff are also anticipating the first days of the fall semester. Unfortunately, we do not have enough funds to support our staff salary for this upcoming semester. We will be launching our Fall Frenzy fundraising campaign to support basic Mountain SOL operations this Fall. If you are interested in becoming a major donor ($250 - $1,000) please contact Liz Wiles at Liz@AuroraLights.org.
Stay tuned for our Fall Frenzy kick-off.
Our summer programs were a great success! We offered 10 weeks of summer workshops and welcomed 81 participants throughout the summer. We can't wait to do it again next year. Visit our website to view pictures from our summer workshops.
We are offering four afterschool programs this Fall. Sign up now!
Mountain Mallards
Begins Monday, August 31
Mondays, 3:30p – 5:30p*
2nd-4th graders
Cost: $100-$150 per student
This club is for our students who just can’t get enough of being outside and who want to learn more about the trees, animals, plants, trails and treasures we have on Morgantown Learning Academy’s 12-acre campus. We will spend every minute of our hour and half together hiking on our new trail around the property and exploring our forest. While this class will be full of fun and exciting discoveries, our instructors Jen and Maya will consistently use principles of individual responsibility, team work and good stewardship to guide our adventures.
Mountain Mapaches *New for Fall 2015!*
Begins Monday, August 31
Mondays, 3:30p – 5:30p*
3rd-4th graders
Cost: $100-$150 per student
The Mountain Mapaches is a club for our students who have learned how to be responsible for themselves in the woods, have learned how to be respectful of nature, and are aware of the dangers in the woods. These students are ready to learn how to work as a pack. They have achieved a level of independence and have earned the instructor’s trust to venture into the woods with less supervision. This is a new program for our Mountain Mallards that are ready to advance but are not yet ready to advance to Mountain Jaguares.
Mountain Jaguares
Begins Thursday, Sept 3
Thursdays 3:30p – 5:30p* (also 1 Friday a month at Coopers Rock State Forest and an overnight camp out)
5th graders and up
Cost: $150-$200 per student
This advanced club focuses on practicing and expanding the “surthrival” skills that we have learned in Mountain Mallards: tracking, tree and plant id, shelter and fire making, wildlife habitat creation, and good stewardship practices. We will also begin to transfer from a focus on individual responsibility to learning more about how to work together as a team or “pack.”
Mountain Mayflies
Every other Tuesday starting Sept 15
3:30p – 6:00p*
4th grade – 12th grade (younger children accepted with special permission)
Cost: $60-$70
The Mountain Mayflies is our youth activist group that focuses on learning about the effects of extractive industries on our public lands while spreading awareness about these issues and how we can protect our public forests. Students will also be learning forest and stream ecology while advocating for the protection of our forests. This group is part of Aurora Lights’ Not In My Forests (NIMF) program. The Mayflies will spend most of their classes within the Coopers Rock State Forest but all classes will first meet at MLA before traveling to Coopers Rock unless otherwise noted.
Visit our website to view descriptions of our afterschool programs and information about pricing and enrollment.
Afterschool program schedules can be found on our calendar.
See you in the woods!
Hannah Spencer
President, Aurora Lights
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