MEDIA RELEASE
2/26/2025

 –For Immediate Release—
Contact: Louis Medina, Outreach Director, Sierra Forever (formerly Eastern Sierra Interpretive Association), [email protected], Cell 323.788.7447

 

SnowSchool: Learning by Frolicking—It’s a Fifth-Grade Thing!

Sierra Forever, Friends of the Inyo, partners and volunteers unite in ‘It takes a village’ spirit to teach local kids about snow science.

Local nonprofits Sierra Forever and Friends of the Inyo, together with partners Winter Wildlands Alliance, school districts in Inyo and Mono Counties, and community volunteers delivered another successful SnowSchool experience to some 250 local fifth graders this winter.

The last two weeks of February brought a flurry of activities to the snow-covered grounds around the Mammoth Lakes Welcome Center and Aspendell’s Cardinal Village, turning the outdoors into a classroom designed for hands-on learning about the science of snow, winter survival tactics for both humans and animals, our local watershed, and important social skills such as cooperation, collaboration, patience and accountability.

Over five days, students from Mammoth Lakes, Bishop, Big Pine and Round Valley schools got to try on snowshoes, build snow shelters, measure the difference between surface snow and deep snow temperatures, calculate snow-to-water ratios, and do the “penguin slide” down a hill on their bellies.

Friends of the Inyo’s Stewardship Director Izzy Taylor co-led SnowSchool for the first time together with Sierra Forever’s Education and Events Manager Michelle Kelly. Taylor, who used to work for the Eastside Student Center in Bishop, said she would hear about SnowSchool from her ESC students who had attended, but the actual experience has far surpassed her expectations.

“I really thought the kids would get bored after being in the snow for a while,” she said Wednesday morning at Cardinal Village, “but they naturally love playing and digging snow pits and caves and building snowmen. I was surprised by how into the science they are.” She said she is amazed at students’ ability to understand and make connections between concepts.

According to first-time volunteer Amanda Adams, who is an educator, intense effective learning by frolicking and playing is a developmental thing: a fifth-grade thing.

“Fifth graders are the best!” the Paradise resident said. “They are so open and excited to learn about anything.”

But they are also at an age when they are beginning to show maturity. “You all were patient when trying to put on your snowshoes. It was difficult, but you kept trying!” Kelly praised the group she was leading. She estimates that around half the students in this year’s SnowSchool had never been snowshoeing before, so the experience was a milestone for them.

Then, after a round of self-introductions—with not one child skipping a polite greeting of, “Good morning,” before introducing themselves to both the adults and, surprisingly, the other kids in their group—Kelly invited them to go on a snowshoeing adventure. And off they went!

“It’s actually hard to keep up with them,” said another first-time volunteer, Mark Bir, of Bishop, who was helping Kelly. “They’re excited, they’re curious, and they’re trying to get ahead of us.”

A park ranger with the Bureau of Land Management’s Bishop Field Office, Bir said he works weekends, when most community volunteering activities happen. “I don’t get a chance to volunteer,” he said, so when he found out about SnowSchool’s mid-week opportunity, he jumped at the chance.

SnowSchool features a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math)-based curriculum designed by Winter Wildlands Alliance as “a bridge connecting kids to snow science,” according to the organization’s website, winterwildlands.org. WWA prides itself in working with partners at 70 sites around the country to introduce 35,000 kids to winter every season. “Students learn about hydrology, winter ecology, wildlife, and snow crystals. They also make a vital connection between the snowpack—source of more than 80% of our water in the West—and the water they drink every day,” the website says.

“It’s a wonderful experience for them to get outside and learn about our local area and science in a very hands-on way,” said Bishop Elementary fifth grade teacher Meghan Avila, who was participating in SnowSchool for the fifth time, but for the first time together with her fifth-grade daughter, Eliana. “She loves any opportunity to be outside and to be learning,” the proud teacher and mom said.

Sierra Forever and Friends of the Inyo have been collaborating on delivering SnowSchool to local children for the better part of a decade, since 2017. While SnowSchool 2025 has ended, the public can support the effort for future years by giving monetarily to Sierra Forever (sierraforever.org) or Friends of the Inyo (friendsoftheinyo.org). Late this year and early next year, prior to SnowSchool 2026, both organizations will also put out a call for in-kind donations of gloves, mittens, snow goggles, jackets and snowshoes appropriate for 10-to-11-year-olds, as gear for the kids who do not have their own is always welcome. For more information about SnowSchool in Inyo and Mono Counties, please write to [email protected] or [email protected].

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