Just for a moment, close your eyes and think back. Do you remember your first walk in a forest? Can you hear soft footfalls on the trail as leaves rustle above? Smell the sweet scent of fir? Feel the rough bark against your fingertips?
For many of us, these “firsts” were experienced before we could hold on to them as memories at all, but for my fourth graders, over half of whom live in apartments without access to any green space, the memory of those “firsts” will stay with them all their lives.
My name is Catherine, and I am a 4th grade educator in the bilingual Spanish-English program at Metzger Elementary, a Title 1 school in Tigard.
Thanks to Hoyt Arboretum Friends, I was provided the opportunity to bring 100 students to the Arboretum this spring, and was reminded again of how absolutely magic this place is!
As we crested the hill and pulled up to the Visitor Center, a chorus of voices overlapped as the kids took in the pavilion and surrounding trees:
“Look! We’re in the jungle!”
“No, no, it’s called a forest! A forest just like in the book!”
“It’s like we’re in the middle of nowhere!”
As we got out of our bus and circled up at the pavilion, I checked in on a student who had recently joined our class after moving here from Guatemala. “What do you think?” I asked. “I think I want to stay in this place forever,” he told me.
Throughout the day, his group’s nature educator shared all that they learned in English and Spanish, a rare experience for my student who was used to waiting for an explanation from me or a whispered translation from a peer.
As we journeyed through the Arboretum, I saw each and every one of my students engaging with the nature around them – my student who uses a motorized wheelchair was offered a completely accessible route to enjoy with her peers. I saw my nonspeaking student who uses an AAC device (or Augmentative and Alternative Communication device) express his excitement by showing his nature-specific buttons to his nature educator. And, I watched as one of my students beamed with pride after correctly identifying a trillium flower across the meadow.
We walked along creekside paths, placed our hands on the bark of old trees, balanced on tree stumps, and listened quietly to the wind rustling through the bamboo. As a ten year old, so much of your day is spent hearing adults tell you to “sit still”, “be quiet”, “don’t touch”…but the Arboretum is another story entirely.
Here, kids, and adults, are offered the opportunity to learn through experience – to create authentic connections with the nature around them and to affirm their birthright of participating in the enjoyment and conservation of our planet.
At the end of our trip, upon hearing that they could come back for free with their families, at any time, my students expressed an even greater sense of belonging in this place. Quite a few promised me that they would come back and be the guide for their own families.
It has been a privilege to provide my students with the opportunity to find belonging here at the Arboretum; an opportunity that was made possible only by the generosity of friends like YOU! The scholarships provided by Hoyt Arboretum Friends are the sole reason that a school like mine could participate in this experience.
Since most of our school’s discretionary budget is allocated towards supporting our families facing food scarcity, providing transportation for our students navigating unstable housing and homelessness, and making sure other social services are available to our families who have recently immigrated to the United States, our ability to go on a field trip is quite limited.
Or, rather, it would be if not for the incredible support from this community. Your contributions make a tremendous difference, and on behalf of my students and our school community, I extend my deepest gratitude to you all.
Please consider investing in this beautiful space; ensuring that the Hoyt Arboretum will exist as a place of true belonging for generations to come.
Make a gift to support Hoyt Arboretum Friends programs.