Category: Environmental Education

Environmental Education, Nearshore, South Sound GREEN, Updates

Monthly Update – May 2026

Stephanie Bishop
3rd graders at Burfoot playing CRAB-O while holding out a hairy shore crab

With Summer just around the corner, South Sound GREEN has been joining students in our Nearshore and Eye on Nature field experiences!

8th graders from the Olympia School District are traversing Meyer’s Point as they rotate through various stations run by some of our community partners. These students get to pull invasive blackberry, learn about forestry practices, dissect an oyster, and explore the mudflat with all its critters. Through mud, rain, and shine, these middle schoolers got a day full of exciting environmental experiences! A huge thank you to our community partners that make these trips possible.

May also means it’s time for our 3rd grade Nearshore field trips! 3rd graders from Olympia have been exploring the intertidal zone of Burfoot Park near Boston Harbor. All throughout the month they’ve been learning about different plant adaptations, participating in an intertidal scavenger hunt, and getting CRAB-O as they search for hairy shore crabs along the beach. It’s such a joy to help foster respect for the outdoors in students so early on in their education. Thanks to our volunteers for sharing their knowledge with the students!

We also had our very first Eye on Nature field trip this month. Students from Garfield Elementary school came to the Billy Frank Jr Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge to learn all about plants and animals. 5th graders in the morning started with either nature mapping or ethnobotany, either logging the animals they found on the trail or investigating plants and how humans interact with them. After lunch at the twin barns, the groups would swap and experience the other activity. Some students even got to spot the elusive white-faced Ibis!

We finished the last of our North Thurston Public School Nearshore trips at Squaxin Park this month. Thanks to Olympia Parks for their help to make these trips possible!

We also joined our Envirothon teams at the Washington State Envirothon, hosted by Okanogan Conservation District at Conconcully State Park! High school students from all over the state competed in aquatics, soils, forestry, wildlife, and an oral presentation to try and make it to the national competition. A huge hurrah! for all the teams that competed. Great job everyone!

Environmental Education, South Sound GREEN, Student GREEN Congress, Updates, Water Quality

Monthly Update – February 2026

Stephanie Bishop
Students from East Olympia conducting the dissolved oxygen test at their monitoring site.

With Spring right around the corner, South Sound GREEN has been getting back into the swing of water quality testing and prepping for our annual Student GREEN Congress!

This month, Thurston County students are returning to their monitoring sites to gather their Winter water quality data. These are the times of year that are the most important for local salmon. Rain, cold, or snow won’t stop these scientists!

TnT volunteers joined the Center for Natural Lands Management this past Valentine’s Day for their bonfire for prairie restoration! Volunteers got to collect various brush and limbs from trees cut down for safety and oak release and pile them into a bonfire. This bonfire helps restore our prairie habitats by spreading nutrient rich ash to support the ecosystem. And, of course, no bonfire is complete without s’mores! If you have a teen who is interested in getting some outdoor work experience, please contact Sam Nadell (snadell@thurstoncd.com).

Student GREEN Congress will be taking place on March 19th at The Evergreen State College and delegates are working hard in preparation! Students from elementary and middle schools all over the county will gather to share their water quality data from both Fall and Winter testing. Together they will work to identify hot spots, come up with action projects, and celebrate healthy water parameters. This event is done in collaboration with the Nisqually River Education Project and Chehalis Basin Education Consortium. If you’d like to know more about it, check out our Student GREEN Congress Webpage and this article from Thurston Talk!

Action Projects, Environmental Education, South Sound GREEN, Updates

Monthly Update – December 2025

Stephanie Bishop
Our Evergreen intern Tiana helping two students with planting.

We ushered in a chilly December with action projects and seed sorting!

Students from ORLA, Reeves Middle, and Marshall Middle joined us at a local farm and Squaxin Park to participate in habitat restoration. Students worked hard on helping support riparian zones by pulling invasive species and planting native shrubs. Students learned how to properly plant to ensure the best changes for these species and why it’s so important to fight against invasives. Some of these students have participated in water quality testing, leading to some great connections between riparian buffer zones and water quality. The cold was no problem for these conservationists!

This month TnT met at Haki Farmers Collective. Here we spent the rainy afternoon in the barn sorting sorghum seeds and beans as we learned how the plants are used. We even had some time to conduct some science experiments as we tried to pop the sorghum seeds like popcorn! If you have a teen interested in getting some outdoors working experience, contact Sam Nadell at snadell@thurstoncd.com.

We at South Sound GREEN are happy with the work we’ve been able to accomplish this year, and none of it would have been possible without the help of our teachers, volunteers, students, and community partners! We had over 8,000 student interactions this year and multiple new classes and schools participating in our programming for the first time. We have a lot of exciting education opportunities such as South Puget Sound Regional Envirothon and Student GREEN Congress coming up, so keep your eyes peeled for future updates. Here’s to another successful year in outdoor education!

Environmental Education, Salmon, South Sound GREEN, Updates

Monthly Update – November 2025

Stephanie Bishop
Emma, the Billy Frank Jr Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge AmeriCorps member, points out salmon spawning behavior to Rainier High School students at the McLane Creek Nature Trail.

November started with us finishing the last of our Fall water quality trips, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t still getting students outdoors! It’s salmon spawning field trip month for us at South Sound GREEN.

Chum salmon have been making their way back home from the sea to spawn. Students gathered at the McLane Creek Nature Trail to observe the very species they’ve been doing water quality testing for. From crossing over to making redds, students watched excitedly as the salmon exhibited their spawning behaviors. It was awesome to watch students make connections between salmon and water quality!

Stay tuned for some of our favorite events coming up, such as Student GREEN Congress and South Puget Sound Regional Envirothon! If you are interested in helping out in the future with either of these events, please contact Sam Nadell at snadell@thurstoncd.

Environmental Education, Updates, Water Quality

Monthly Update – October 2025

Stephanie Bishop
Students at Pioneer Park doing a dissolved oxygen test.

October brings cozy Fall weather and our water quality monitoring trips! Students all over the county have been conducting water quality tests, including four schools that are new to testing as of the past year! We’ve spent this month conducting practice lessons in the classroom and taking students out into the field to their community sites. It’s been a blast getting these students, their families, and their teachers pumped about water quality and salmon.

North Thurston schools have completed their Watershed Explorers field trips! In sun, rain, wind, and cold, every 5th grade student across eight schools gathered at their testing sites to collect water quality data as each student conducted each test. Using site surveys and the data gathered, students discussed what may be impacting the water quality and how their communities can work together to make improvements.

Orca Recovery Day was on the 18th and our volunteer group, Teens in Thurston (TnT) worked alongside other volunteers to help restore riparian and forested areas in Squaxin Park to support our Southern Resident Orcas! A beautiful mosaic art piece was created by the volunteers in celebration. If you or someone you know is a high school student looking for volunteer hours and enjoy working outside, please contact Sam Nadell (snadell@thurstoncd.com) for more information.