Connecting Washington youth with special places in their backyard

We are 4 interns from the Student Conservation Association working with the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park in Seattle, WA. Our project is aimed at informing urban youth about the opportunities available for them in the National Parks and other cultural areas around Washington. We are especially focused on middle/high school students who are old enough to start being independent, but young enough that they may not have the means to coordinate large trips or outings without assistance.

Interns - Claire Parchem, Sophie Turnbull-Appell, Sarah Dunn, Natasha Way

Other Team Members - Kelseyanne Johnson, Leila Mirhaydari, Jimi Hightower

Friday, July 11, 2014

Introducing Sarah!

Stoic mountain pose
Hello everyone! I guess its time to officially introduce myself. I'm Sarah, another of the SCA interns working on the In My Backyard project this summer. Like my fellow interns, I am an outdoor enthusiast. I enjoy quite a range of outdoor sports, everything from cross-country skiing to rockclimbing to kayaking, and I'm always looking for more chances to get outside. The past three summers I have volunteered on SCA high school trail crews in Olympic NP, Palmer AK, and Humboldt Redwoods State Park CA. On top of learning how to build and maintain trails, I had a crash course in professional tree climbing, built a sweat lodge in an island in a river, and baked lots of bread in the backcountry. All in all, my trail crews were tons of fun!

Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem
Most of the places I have traveled have been stops on family road trips or on other outdoor adventures. However, there are a couple exceptions to that rule. In my sophomore year of high school I traveled to Israel and Palestine to learn about the conflict there. It was an amazing trip that taught me that there is no easy answer to the world's problems. Last summer I spent a month on exchange in Lima, Peru. While I did have some trouble adjusting to the fish heavy diet, I had lots of fun attending Peruvian school and living with my host family. Hopefully I will be able to visit again in the future.

One of my favorite photos
Another of my passions is photography. I love taking super artsy macro shots of plants I find while hiking or funny shots of wildlife. I'm also a big fan of stoic posing on top of mountains.

Next fall I'm heading off to Walla Walla to start my freshman year at Whitman College. I'm thinking about majoring in one of the environmental studies programs but I have yet to officially decide. I'm super excited to experience all that college has to offer.

I hope you enjoy learning about the cool opportunities in Washington as much as I do!

- Sarah, SCA intern
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