On a chilly September evening all 35 members of Lone Peak High School’s freshman and sophomore classes could be found huddled around a campfire at the Red Cliff Campground, ten miles south of Big Sky, Montana. In an attempt to meet LPHS’s mission of place-based education, this was an educational three-day, two night camping trip in which students studied geological and geographical elements of the landscape where they live.
The outing was just one of many chances for students to explore possibilities for their capstone project – a new graduate
requirement enacted last spring to help create more well-rounded graduates who will be better prepared to enter life after high school, whether that be college or the work force. The capstone project incorporates community and school service and culminates in an internship in a field of study that interests them.
With place-based education at the forefront of progressive pedagogy, one of the goals at Lone Peak High School is to aid in students’ understanding of the natural world that surrounds them. Teachers created an event that was designed to do just that. Place based education provides dynamic learning experiences that contrast the standard classroom environment. In a typical language arts class, students are told to imagine what the wind feels like on their faces as they stand atop a rise on a ridge. In the expeditionary classroom,students actually get to feel this sensation.
At the beginning of the fall expedition, students were challenged to consider their place in the environment and how they would respond or adapt to dramatic shifts in their day-to-day routines. What would you do if your life were turned upside down? How would you respond if your route to work was changed? What would happen if the land before you were laid bare? Of course it was not their lives that were tossed about, but rather the lives of plants and animals in the Meadow Creek drainage five miles south of their campsite.
During the very wet spring of 2011, a pre-historic landslide was reactivated in this drainage sliding 500-800 meters - about a half-mile. Consequences of the event included disruption of the migration routes of several large mammal species including elk and deer, it dammed Meadow Creek creating several new ponds, turned old ponds that had formed on the original landslide into hilltops, and laid bare, soil and rock that had not been exposed to the surface in thousands of years. This new landscape is the area of study chosen for LPHS students. “It’s going to be a long term study, one that LPHS will be involved with over many years,” stated science teacher Paul Swenson. “I hope that several students get excited about the opportunity to study a large disturbed region such as this and see it change over time.”
Students in Mr. Swenson’s integrated science courses and environmental science teacher Nancy Sheil’s classes study plant succession, geology, soil science, water science, and other biological and physical sciences that can be applied to this unique area. In addition to the sciences, students will also be expected to incorporate concepts from other disciplines. Using documentary photographs and video to show long term effects of weathering, slide movement, plant succession and animal adaptation to their new surroundings; applying journalistic techniques and skills to record, interpret, and publish findings from the research as it comes in every year; utilizing skills from their language arts classes to polish the documentations for publication; and applying the knowledge base gained in studying an unstable, unpopulated area to one whose locale is similar and then identify the potential social and economic impacts that development on unstable land may bring… are all designed to aide in and round out a student’s understanding of the diverse ecosystems in which they live. Several expeditions have been created to give students multiple opportunities to consider options for their capstone project and ultimately a career. They are expected to get their hands dirty and become immersed in these endeavors in hopes of finding something that truly interests them. In addition to the LPHS teachers taking the lead role in this project, The University of Montana has made a commitment to study similar attributes and changes in the Meadow Creek drainage. With the assistance of University of Montana geography professor and part-time Big Sky resident Rick Graetz, our young scholars are introduced to the myriad possibilities of interesting and genuine career paths available to them.
Admittance processes are becoming quite competitive today and many colleges and universities are looking for students who stand out in some unique way. The diverse opportunities afforded to LPHS students will certainly give them a leg up when it comes to college applications. Our high schoolers, with the help of their teachers and UM and BYU-Idaho graduate students, are putting together portfolios that show the experiences they have had working in the field. Portfolio pieces might include a video of a lecture series, an article published in any number of newspapers and journals, or slides showing a student led field course. The combination of college level studies and stellar student portfolios will no doubt impress admittance offices.
One of the major goals set forth at LPHS is instilling in students a desire to become actively engaged in their community on a more personal level. It is our hope they will begin to care about what happens to the landscape they live in and want to become an integral part of the decisions being made about it. We think we are on track to fulfill our mission.
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