Enjoy this guest post from McCall Donnelly High School Teacher Melissa Coriell:

The Tamaracks welcomed the McCall Donnelly High School speech class into their forest classroom last week. The high school students have been participating in a research project to learn more about the natural history of Ponderosa Park: it’s geological history, the wisdom of the Nez Perce and the Shoshone and how they subsisted in this area “long ago” pre-reservations times, and how the land surrounding the lake became a state park. The students found primary source documents in the Idaho room at the public library, as well as interviewed local archaeologist Morgan Zedalis. Once they gathered their information, they transformed each of their histories into a story to share with the students at Roots.

As our bus pulled into the parking lot, the first thing we observed was a stream of preschoolers walking out of the forest, ready to greet us.  Introductions, led by the preschool, began with the hello song, clapping to the rhythm of, “Hello, welcome to the forest; tell us your name!”

Once introductions were made, the Tamaracks wasted no time selecting a high school student to be their buddy, and off into the snowy woods we hiked.

As in the oral tradition of the people before us, we walked the landscape and told the stories of this place.  After about 20 minutes of post-holing through the snow, we came to a set of steps leading us down to the lakeshore. Kyle, Kami, Natalie, and Levi gathered the kids on a patch of sand and rock at the edge of the lake, and told the Earth’s story, specifically the formation of the lake.  At one point, while Levi was explaining how the melting glaciers took out everything in their path including rocks and plants, one preschooler enthusiastically piped in, “and pine trees!” And another Tamarack student compared an exploding rock to a shooting star. As Levi explained how the lake came to be, another preschooler asked how rivers were formed.  Many of the Tamarack students voiced connections between their own experiences in the forest and the stories of the park’s geological history.

Next, we walked back up to the trail and continued our hike through the deep, deep snow. The next niche we came upon was a big climbing rock and four snow buried benches. Levi and the kids immediately gravitated to the rock, climbing the slick snow covered surface. Meanwhile, Abbie, Quinn, Margot, and Tori stepped up on a park bench, gathered the kids and told the story of how the Nez Perce and Shoshone lived and interacted with this landscape long, long ago, and reminded us that these tribes are still alive and well today.

In the final leg of our hike, the teenagers and preschoolers became more playful with each other and with their surroundings: holding hands, jumping into snowbanks, and asking questions about each other. Our final destination brought us full circle to the outskirts of the Northern Lights trail and to the base of a ski hill: “Not So Easy.” The Tamaracks impressed us with their excellent abilities to travel through snow, always avoiding the groomed trails and staying on the more rugged terrain.

Beneath the boughs of Ponderosa Pines, Rose and Tess told the story of how long ago, at the turn of the 20th century, a group of citizens advocated for the land around the lake in order to protect and preserve its wildlife, trees, and plants. Tess and Rose reminded the kids that thanks to the foresight of these earlier citizens and the newspaper, The Long Valley Advocate, we continue to enjoy the legacy and beauty of Ponderosa State Park today.

At the end of the last story, it was time for the high school group to hurry back to the bus. We said our goodbyes and lingered an extra moment to watch as our little buddies ascended in a single line along the edge of the “Not So Easy” hill and disappeared into the woods.

Back in the classroom the high school group made these reflections on their afternoon with the Tamarack class: