BACKGROUND ON EDUCATION PROGRAMS

Jughandle Creek Farm and Nature Center, a 501 c3 nonprofit tax exempt organization, is a regional conservation and education center. It is located on a 40 acre nature preserve adjacent to the Jughandle Ecological Staircase, and has served the public for more than 25 years as an educational facility.

Our original staff was instrumental in preserving the Jughandle Ecological Staircase from development and in facilitating its protection within both the California State Parks Department and the Department of Forestry's Jackson State Forest.

Jughandle Creek Farm and Nature Center serves as a gateway to the Ecological Staircase. Our role has been to educate the public about the Ecological Staircase and to continue in its protection and preservation. In this capacity, we work cooperatively with the California State Parks Department to protect the staircase and in habitat restoration projects.

Our Nature Center is visited by school groups not only from our region but also from many counties throughout the state of California who come to learn about the Ecological Staircase as well as studying tide pool life, estuaries, forest ecosystems and other aspects of the natural history of the Mendocino coast.

For over ten years, a Nature Day Camp has taken place each summer at the Nature Center and attended by the children from the schools in this area in increasing numbers each year. We also have implemented a science and ecology program in our local schools for at least ten years. Our Stewardship/Greenhouse Project with schools was begun in 1995 and continues to engage more students in restoration/education activities each year. Funded through grants, our program in 1999 is expanding to include student monitoring of watersheds.

HISTORY OF JUGHANDLE'S EDUCATION PROGRAMS

Jughandle Creek Farm and Nature Center has a long history of educational outreach activities to local schools.

Renowned wildlife artist, Erica Fielder, who lived and worked at Jughandle for ten years, initiated an educational outreach program during the decade from 1980 through 1990. She worked with Ed Lubin and Karin Lubin doing classroom and field presentations on coastal ecology. Naturalist Pam Huntley began a summer Nature Day Camp Program at Jughandle more than 12 years ago, which she continues to direct and which is still very popular with local schoolchildren. Naturalist Helene Chalfin has led an After School Nature Program since 1991 at Jughandle. All have led local schoolchildren to explore the Jughandle Ecological Staircase.

As a Nature Center, Jughandle has worked with a large number of schools from throughout the state to complement their science programs with outdoor educational experiences for students.

1993

Adopt An Endangered Species Project

In 1993, Jughandle introduced students at the Redwood Elementary School to the Adopt an Endangered Species Project, instituted by the National Audubon Society, the State Department of Fish and Game and the State Department of Education. Students, under the leadership of 2nd grade teacher, Kay Rex, adopted the endangered Castilleja mendocinensis , Mendocino Coast Indian Paintbrush. Students helped remove an exotic invasive plant, Gorse, from the headlands near Jughandle Creek, where it was threatening the coast paintbrush habitat. Songs, stories, paintings and signs about the Indian Paintbrush were developed by students throughout Redwood Elementary. The school received honorable mention in the Adopt An Endangered Species statewide program for adopting Castilleja and making efforts to protect the plant in its habitat, including the removal of exotic plants threatening to crowd it out.

1992 - 1994

Jughandle Creek Farm and Nature Center Becomes a Promoting Partner for Adopt A Watershed with the Mendocino County Resource Conservation District and the Mendocino County Office of Education

Sponsors North Coast Coordinator for Adopt A Watershed With Office Space, Telephone Use and Copy Costs to Help Bring the Watershed Project to Mendocino County Schools.

Becomes Grant Seeker and Fiscal Agent for more than $20,000 in funding which launches the Adopt A Watershed Program in Mendocino County

Hosts Teacher Training Seminars on Adopt A Watershed Curriculum

Administers Funds and Prepares Grant Reports on Adopt A Watershed

From early 1992 through the end of 1994, Jughandle Creek Farm became one of the three promoting partners who worked together to introduce the Adopt A Watershed curriculum to Mendocino County school teachers. Working closely with the Mendocino County Resource Conservation District and the County Office of Education, Jughandle Farm became a grant seeker and fiscal agent for more than $20,000 in funding which launched the Adopt A Watershed Program in seven school districts throughout Mendocino County: Point Arena, Fort Bragg, Mendocino, Laytonville, Potter Valley, Anderson Valley and Ukiah. More than 100 Mendocino County school teachers from these districts took training seminars in the Adopt A Watershed curriculum through this funding provided by the AT &T Corporation and the Mendocino County Office of Education. The first training workshops were organized by Helene Chalfin, with the full sponsorship of the Jughandle Creek Farm Board of Directors, who allowed her office space, telephone use and copy costs to help bring the Watershed program to Mendocino County schools. With the backing of Jughandle Creek Farm Board, Helene applied for and administered all of the funding and prepared the grant reports, working primarily as a volunteer.

From 1994 to 1995, the Americorps, U.S.A. program provided funding for Adopt A Watershed coordination work throughout several counties in California, including Mendocino.Jughandle hosted an Americorps "volunteer" North Coast site coordinator for the Watershed project, who organized and led field trips, developed community support and raised an additional 10,000 dollars in grant funding for the project for the Fort Bragg and Mendocino Unified School Districts. These funds were used to buy the needed science equipment, curriculum materials and bus transportation costs to begin to carry out Watershed Project activities in these districts.

From 1995 to 1996, the Americorps Watershed Stewards Project based in Fortuna, placed a volunteer for one year of service with the Department of Fish and Game's Inland Fisheries Division with mentor Wendy Jones, Associate Fisheries Biologist. Integrating this assignment with work at the Jughandle Nature Center and the schools as part of Watershed Stewards' community service requirement, the Americorps volunteer organized restoration field trips for both Fort Bragg and Mendocino Unified School Districts and raised $12,000 in funding to develop a Native Plant Greenhouse at the Jughandle site to help carry out watershed restoration activities with the schools and Americorps programs.

1995-Present

Stewardship Incentive/Greenhouse Project

Jughandle's Stewardship Incentive/Greenhouse Project is a logical outgrowth of the nature center's earlier efforts to introduce meaningful environmental education curriculum into local school districts. The Stewardship program is designed to complement schools' current science matrix, including Adopt A Watershed curriculum, Life Lab Science or the Child's Place In the Environment curriculum, with classroom visits, field trips and service - learning experiences. The primary partners in the project are the Americorps Watershed Stewards Project, the State Department of Parks and Recreation, the Department of Fish and Game, the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens and members of the Watershed Project.  

Beginning in late 1995, Jughandle initiated the Stewardship/Greenhouse Project with surrounding school districts including Mendocino, Fort Bragg and Point Arena Unified. This project combines efforts of Jughandle with resource staff from the State Parks Department, Ca. Fish and Game Dept., the Americorps Watershed Stewards and Watershed Project members as well as community members to give students and the community a role in the management of natural resources. Students at all grade levels have been involved in raising native plants for watershed restoration and revegetation projects under the leadership of Jughandle Farm. Students have learned about watershed wildlife, aquatic insects, riparian plants and soils on interactive field trips to the watersheds in their community.

1999-Present

Fisheries and Watersheds Education Project

In 1999, with a large grant from the State Fish and Game Department, Jughandle's Stewardship Project has been expanded to include a Fisheries and Watersheds monitoring component for local school districts. For a complete project description, see "Current Activities".