Program enables Merced students to experience Yosemite, many for first time
Rivera Elementary School fourth-graders on Wednesday made up the final group of 1,400 Merced students to visit Yosemite National Park and learn about the park’s resources and wildlife from UC Merced student rangers.
Three classes of fourth-graders learned about hydrology, geology, ecology and the way the Ahwahnechee people lived during a visit to Yosemite that included hikes to Lower Yosemite Falls and Cook’s Meadow and tours of the Indian Village of Ahwahnee and the Yosemite Museum.
On the buses, the students erupted with cheers at the first glimpse of Half Dome. For some students, the visit was the first time they’d ever seen snow.
“People from all around the world come here, and it’s two hours from our actual house,” said Ethan Vega, 9. “It’s important to take this field trip because all these people are so obsessed with technology that they never come outside to see what nature has to offer.”
UC Merced students who are part of the university’s Wilderness Education Center and Yosemite Leadership Program taught the elementary students how resources and culture in Yosemite molded life in Merced.
“I try to stress how the water cycle here (in Yosemite) affects Merced,” said Nick Taylor, 21, a UC Merced student ranger who taught the hydrology and geology lessons.
Taylor explained to the students the importance of the Yosemite snowpack and watershed to the Merced River and the region’s water resources.
“All of this water finds its way to down to the Central Valley and eventually to Merced,” Taylor told the students while standing beneath Lower Yosemite Falls. “Could you imagine if there was no snow in the mountains?”
Other lessons, such as the ones about the Ahwahnechee, tied in to the fourth-graders’ history lessons about the California Gold Rush. Student ranger Vera Reyes explained that Native American life changed drastically after settlers discovered Yosemite.
“It’s a chance for them to get out of their own world and see the bigger world that’s out there,” said Toni Walery, a fourth-grade teacher at Rivera. “Over half of our students have never been to a national park or Yosemite. The exposure to what they have in their backyard is thrilling. They’re in awe just knowing what’s here.”
The program to bring fourth-graders in the Merced City School District to Yosemite was made possible in part by the National Park Foundation and the Every Kid in a Park initiative.
The program has three parts. The UC Merced rangers visited Merced schools in February to introduce them to Yosemite through videos and lessons in assemblies. In March, every fourth-grade class in the Merced City School District visited Yosemite for a chance to see the famous landmarks. In April, the student rangers will revisit the schools to tie together the Yosemite lessons and experiences.
“For them to be able to come up and experience it is wonderful,” said Scott Gediman, a Yosemite spokesman.
“These are our next generation of park stewards,” Gediman said. “We have these wonderful national parks across the country, but we have to sustain that audience.”
This story was originally published March 23, 2016 at 6:51 PM with the headline "Program enables Merced students to experience Yosemite, many for first time."