Boulder Creek, CA — Eight students from San Lorenzo Valley High School participated recently in the 2015 Santa Cruz Forestry Challenge, one group of a total of over 90 high school students from 11 schools from the Santa Cruz and central California region. The event was held at Redwood Christian Park, near Boulder Creek, California. One of the San Lorenzo Valley teams had the highest presentation score, and placed eighth overall in a field of 22 teams.
One of the highlights for the students this year was the opportunity to help create content and signage for a self-guided tour under development at Soquel Demonstration State Forest (SDSF). After spending a day at SDSF learning about its ecology, history, and management, students developed portions of a script that will be integrated into an android-based application for smart phones. During the Challenge, the teams of students also completed field training, followed by a field test, to assess their technical forestry knowledge.
“A great hands-on, minds-on experience with real tools and mentors,” said San Lorenzo Valley High School teacher Jane Orbuch.
By Jane Orbuch
The Claw 