On behalf of this year’s sixth grade class at Orcas Elementary School, we would like to express our gratitude to Orcas Island Education Foundation and former Chair of NatureBridge Valerie Anders for their generous donations toward our trip. NatureBridge is rated first in the country for science field learning for children. Together with class fundraising activity this year, their donations have made the trip accessible to everyone.

A week at NatureBridge is not only an amazing, enriching outdoor learning experience for the class, it is an important bonding time for the group as they learn and live together at our nearby stunning Olympic National Park. The annual trip feels like a rite of passage in the sixth grade, eagerly anticipated in elementary school and remembered fondly by upper level students. This wonderful week-long trip is often a child’s first significant time away from home, where they become environmental stewards by actively engaging in environmental studies, learning about forest ecology, marine science, geology, earth science and more. We are grateful for your donations to continue the tradition and help our children learn and build memories with their classmates and teacher. Thank you so much.

Please join us in the school library on Wednesday, March 16 at 12:45 p.m. to hear the students read from the book they created, and share in their rich experience. Refreshments will be served afterwards.

Holly King, Casey Ahrens