When I began to work with the youth of the Holyoke Boys and Girls Club (HBGC), I was inspired to document our new adventures in a journal. After each outdoor trip with the youth I note new discoveries, interesting quotes, and the magical moments that take place on every outing! Below, I've shared some of my favorite stories and examples of how fun learning in the outdoors can be.

The titles of each journal entry describe the focus of the trip, the date of the trip, and the HBGC group that came on the outing. There are seven groups of youth I work with from the HBGC's five facilities. These include the Nick Cosmos Unit's Red Group (ages 11-13), Blue Group (ages 9-11) and Green Group (ages 6-8) as well as the four HBGC satellite units that are strategically located across downtown Holyoke- Beaudoin Unit, Toepfert Unit, Lyman Unit and Churchill Unit. Youth from these satellite units range in age from six to thirteen.

Enjoy our tales from the trail!

Caring for our special places: Garlic mustard invasive species removal at Dinosaur Footprints

Spring 2007

Spring is a time of blooming wildflowers, plants, and trees.  However, some of the plants we find at the Dinosaur Footprints property in Holyoke are unwanted guests known as ‘invasive species’. These are plants that have arrived here from far away places such as Europe and Asia. 

One of the most abundant invasive plants at The Trustees’ Dinosaur Footprints property is called garlic mustard. It grows faster than most of the native plants, crowding them out and hogging a lot of space.  In the last few weeks, over 25 Holyoke Boys and Girls Club members participated in removing 3 garbage bags full of garlic mustard from the property!

At each of three visits to the site, everyone learned how to identify and pull up the garlic mustard. And then, the work began!  After 45 minutes of feverishly pulling out this “bossy” weed, we would take a break to enjoy the property and see the footprints.  At the end of one visit, one participant, Christian, age 8, exclaimed, “I had fun!  This was a great day.  Can I come back tomorrow to pull more?” 

Mount Tom meets Puerto Rico: Animals from Holyoke transform into Vegigante masks.

December-February 2007

This winter, HBGC youth are creating a link between the wildlife that lives in Holyoke and the local Puerto Rican community.  This involves learning about the local animals and then creating their likeness in traditional Vegigante-style masks. 

Local artist Angel Sanchez has been guiding HBGC youth and Trustees staff in creating these unique creations. Traditional Vegigante masks are worn by the colorful “el vegigante” creatures as they dance in the streets for carnival celebrations throughout Puerto Rico (and Holyoke) being mischievous and making children laugh.  Their origins can be found in the Spanish and African heritage of Puerto Rican peoples.  To make the wildlife curriculum more relevant to the youth living here in Holyoke, we paired mask-making with the creatures that the youth are learning about: white-tailed deer, raccoon, blue jay, red fox, wild turkey, american shad, black bear, timber rattlesnake, green frog, and the monarch butterfly.  Each mask began as a balloon and was transformed into different faces with the helping hands of many HBGC youth, gobs of glue and flour, strips of newspaper and lots of creativity!

Nine year olds Kevin and Seline are looking forward to wearing the masks at Holyoke’s Hispanic festival this summer. But first, we need to paint the masks with authentic colors and develop costumes to go with them. According to Tyler, age 9, this project “takes a long time and a lot of work, but it’s worth it.”   
 

Rocks are older than you might think: Dinosaur Footprints Reservation provides a window into the past!

September-November 2006

“We are much younger than these rocks!” said thirteen-year-old Ryan Navarro.  In this case, 200 million years younger!  HBGC youths, ages 6-14, have been looking for clues in the sedimentary rocks at The Trustees Dinosaur Footprints Reservation. The rocks we have seen were once a part of ancient mud that dinosaurs walked through when swampy waters lapped the shore.  The children explored the property scouring it for clues of this once sub-tropical environment.  We discovered unusual markings in the sedimentary rocks and Destiny, age 10, declared, “Those are wave ripple marks on the rocks!” During this adventure, all the children easily found the three-toed imprints of the carnivorous dinosaur Eubrontes giganteus.  

At the start of each class, children were shown examples of the three types of rock: sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic.  When we first began this theme, many of the youths believed the rocks to be only one hundred years old.  Mikey, age 7, who had attended this field trip in September, remembered what he had learned and when asked the age of the sedimentary rock, he replied, “200 million-year-old mud!”

Night hike at Doane's Falls: A first for everything!

August 17, 2006

An excerpt from the camping trip to Tully Lake Campground with Holyoke Boys and Girls Club youth

 “When do we get to use the flashlights?” asked the campers. I replied, “When it gets dark.”  Thinking back, I realized they not only wanted to have fun with the lights but they were also a little afraid of the dark! As the evening approached, I showed them the map of where we were going to hike and we all checked our compasses to be sure we were headed in the right direction. 

When we got to the trailhead, I assigned two people to be in the front and back of the hiking line to be sure we all stayed together.  Then off we went into the deep, dark forest.  At one point, I asked everyone to turn off their flashlights.  “But Miss, we can't see without them!” was the reply.  So I suggested that they feel with their feet and use the sound of the waterfall to guide them. When we all listened closely, the sound of the falls became apparent immediately and we headed towards it!

Once we arrived at the falls, Israel, age 11, noticed how the darkness created beautiful shadows above the tree line and along the rocky shore.  I overheard some of the youth say that they had never hiked at night before and that it was FUN!

After sitting at the falls for awhile, we headed back down the trail out to the open sky.  As we looked up, Christian, age 14, noticed “the bucket in the sky” (Big Dipper) while Kenny, age 14, noticed how many stars he could see. He was amazed and commented that when in the city, it is hard to see the stars at all. 

Water on the mountain runs downhill: Connecticut River Watershed studies with map and compass at Mount Tom

July 13 , 2006
With the “Red Efts” (12-14 year old youth from The Holyoke Boys and Girls Club Summer Camp)

Today's trip was very special because it was the very first time any of the HBGC youth had a chance to see the vernal pool near the top of The Trustees Little Tom property.  As we hiked on this humid, drizzly day, the youth began to spot one of my favorite creatures of the forest, the “Red Eft” (also known as a Red Spotted Newt during its water stage).  We stopped to step over them on the trail announcing “EFT CROSSING” at almost every turn.  Funny thing is, during the school year, this group of youth is called the “Red Group” so they easily adopted a new name, the “Red Efts” for their group.

We continued to hike and follow our compass readings north until Israel, age 12, spotted the water and took off in a sprint to get there first!  We had found the water by using a map and compass, which was pretty exciting for the kids. We approached the pond and looked down to realize we needed to tip toe through this area because, out of the leaf litter, bunches of baby wood frogs with their little black masked faces peered out of the leaves. Rafi, age 14, wet his hands and then gently let a frog hang out on his hand for a moment.  We explored the pond for a few minutes and talked about how a vernal pool was unique and different from the streams on the mountain in that it has no inlet or outlet.  Because of that, it is a safe place for frogs and Red Spotted Newts to grow up because there are no fish in the water! 

After exploring the pond area, it was time to head back.  I asked the youth what kind of name they might give this special place and Nick, age 13, replied “Hidden Frog Pond”. 

"Discovering the Secrets of Dwight Street” 

By Seeing Deeply, May 1, 2006

Today we took a field trip to Historic Dwight Street in Holyoke to discover the details and secrets of Dwight Street for our Quest (a treasure hunt using a hand made map and clues).  While walking Dwight Street, the HBGC Beaudoin Unit youth noticed details of the past like the “rusty, spear like fence from the 1800's” that lined the old Wauregan building.  They noticed the differences in look and feel between the old bricks in comparison to the newer bricks that had replaced some windows. The new bricks were bright red and were rough to the touch while the older bricks were faded in color and softer from weathering.  They decided that this building should be included in the Quest and that people should touch the bricks in order to get a “feel” for the history of the building.

One of the youth, Amanda, age 9, talked about how thrilling the idea of pretending to live in the 1800's was.  She could imagine herself entering the Hotel Hamilton for a night's rest and thought it was “so cool” to think of the train dropping off the tourists at the hotel. From there, she guessed they would go inside and travel up to their rooms to relax using the iron-gated elevator. She helped to write this line of our Quest: ”Hotel Hamilton was on your left; inside is an old elevator with a metal gate.  Imagine yourself staying in one of these busy hotels in 1858!                                                

An interesting thing happened at the end of our walk while driving home on Race Street. We saw a piece of the Holyoke Boys and Girls Club's history! The original Boys Club of Holyoke building, which, in the past, was a club only for boys (the girls thought this to be rather unfair!).  They learned that this original Boys Club building was erected in 1917 and that the building they now use is three times the size of the old one!

Upon our return to the HBGC Beaudoin Unit, I invited some of the youth to be leaders for our Quest Event on June 3rd. Amanda shook my hand and thanked me for inviting her to be a leader.  She then said that she would be a good leader that day because she knows a lot about Dwight Street that she can share with people and she cannot wait to be part of it!   An inspiring future leader has been recognized!

Photos: (c) TTOR                                                                                                           

Holyoke's Treasures – A Quest Through Time

Creating Art for our Quest Map, March 30, 2006

Our city has changed in the last 100 years.  Along with the youth of the Holyoke Boys and Girls Club, we are exploring these changes and creating a Quest of Holyoke to share the secrets of the historic (Dwight Street) area and show the changes that have taken place there in the last century. 

Today, we worked with Sheryl Jaffe, an art teacher from the South Hadley school district, to make drawings of special places in Holyoke for our Quest map.  Using old photos, we drew the marble building that formerly stood on the corner of Dwight and High Street. We also drew the historic Skinner Mill, located where Heritage State Park is now. We also took photos of existing historic buildings like the Caledonia Building, which is a historic structure that houses many offices and businesses including The Trustees office.

Yadiel, Israel, Jose and Nick- all students from the Nick Cosmos Unit, were today's artists. Yadiel got a chance to use a digital camera to collect images of Holyoke needed for future Quest artwork. He also drew an accurate depiction of City Hall that would make the mayor proud! Israel (pictured in photo) chose to draw the Holyoke Gas and Electric power substation that still lies along the upper canal.  Now, instead of generating waterpower for the historic mills, it generates power for the City of Holyoke.  Israel had a chance to visit this site last week and felt it was important to include it on our map.  Nick drew Heritage Street; a historic street lined with cobblestones and a small paved area down the middle.  Why is it paved in the middle you might ask?  Just ask Yadiel.  He figured out that the trolley tracks used to cover the streets of Holyoke and the pavement was likely there to cover up the old tracks!  What a wonderful observation! 

This project has helped to open the eyes of the HBGC youth (and myself!) to see “deeply” into the Holyoke landscape by observing what is there now and what has changed.  We are also visiting these historic sites and creating text that will tell stories about the changes on Dwight Street.

Our project will culminate with a “Quest Day” on June 3rd from 1pm-3pm beginning at our office.  We invite you on our Urban Quest in the heart of downtown Holyoke to see the transformation of the city landscape through our eyes.

Animal Tracking

As soon as we stepped out of the van, Charlie looked up and said "hawk-I saw it first!" There we all stood in awe, as we watched the red-tailed hawk soar above us as it searched for food in the field and landed on a treetop. We looked for the many colors around us such as the white birch, the yellow and orange leaves of the sugar maple, and the bright red sumac leaves. One young girl, Grendaly, who has been on many of my nature trips in the woods in her neighborhood finally got a chance to go to the mountain--she fell in love with the quartz crystal rocks and took one small special one with her so she would not forget the mountain. We learned how to use compasses, and the kids understood that the sun sets in the west. As we hiked down to the fields, the kids wanted to hide in the grass and pretend to be deer so off they went! I also got a chance to speak to Holyoke Boys and Girls Club (HBGC) staff member Orlando about the mountain, and he shared with me that he used to go up to Mount Tom to learn how to ski with the Boys and Girls Club years ago! Now, ironically, it is owned by HBGC and The Trustees for all to enjoy forever!

What a fun group! Most of the kids had never been in the woods before-how neat to see their first reactions! We found lots of frogs of all species in and around the stream below Little Tom Mountain. Green, leopard, and wood frogs galore jumped around us as we carefully walked in the water. One student, Julianna, warned us all to be careful, saying that "Frogs are VERY delicate." After splashing with the amphibians we hiked into the woods, where the kids exclaimed how much cooler it was in the woods compared with the hot field! We looked at mushrooms and talked about the upcoming camping trip at Tully Lake. One teen exclaimed, "I would love to go camping!" when she heard of the trip. She was later chosen to join us and had a great first camping trip in August! We also did a fun treasure hunt where the kids split up into two groups, used compasses to find north, hid a "treasure," and drew a map to the treasure for the other group to find. As we left, we found a 4-foot-long snakeskin under a rock in the field, with a turkey feather next to it. Joseph from Churchill Unit commented, "The snake must have eaten the turkey"! As we headed back to the van I heard a child say, "…that was cool, I had never been into the woods before!"

Today the kids were doing field studies and they discovered many things up at the mountain while exploring. They observed the many colorful flowers, from yellow black-eyed Susans to purple chicory in the fields. One student, Marimar, had spotted some of these flowers on her last trip and said, "I remember that flower, it's a black-eyed Susan". We all spotted a turkey vulture while trying out our binoculars and chomped on the leaves of the "mitten tree" also known as sassafras. Another neat find was the bear scat (droppings) that had loads of berry seeds in it. We figured out who had done it when Nelson said "There are berries in the scat; it must be a bear!" We spent time learning how to use a compass as well. When one student, Yadiel, understood the concept of where North was he remarked "If that is North then that must be South, East, and West"! The youth were so engaged in and excited about the program, had a lot of fun, and made some great discoveries!

Once we arrived I introduced the kids to the mountain and to what types of tracks we may see…they really thought that monkeys and other exotic animals live there and some kids were really scared to go to the mountain. They all thought that we would see BEAR…and many of them had no idea what a deer was! Once we started to find animal tracks, the kids got really engaged and had fun. We found fox, deer, squirrel and lots of dog tracks. They really enjoyed making pseudo-bear tracks with their footprint and some finger swipes! The girls on the trip (Denise, Saribel) were great at tracking and followed a fox track all the way to some scat (animal droppings) with lots of fur in it…they thought this to be rather gross but kind of cool at the same time. Edgardo really enjoyed the trip and wanted to stay a lot longer. He kept asking, "When are we going up there?" as he pointed to the ridgeline of the mountain. I told him, "As soon as it gets warmer." Another child had a rather different perspective-a seemingly tough, older boy said that he is really scared of animals! He is a very sweet kid and I could really see this field trip being a good thing for him. He thought we were going to see dinosaurs at the mountain!