PORT ANGELES — These high-schoolers do not stick around the classroom. Too much is happening out in the rivers, sea and forest.
So the North Olympic Peninsula Skills Center’s natural resources students have been working all year long with four community partners — all organizations deep into restoration and protection.
In a free presentation titled “Classroom to Community: A Celebration of Students and Partnerships,” open to the public this afternoon, the teens will discuss the service-learning projects they’re part of at the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, the Feiro Marine Life Center, StreamKeepers of Clallam County and the Olympic National Park Visitor Center.
Today’s multimedia program, with appetizers from the Skills Center culinary arts students, is open to the public from 4 p.m. until 6 p.m. in the upstairs conference room of The Landing mall, 115 E. Railroad Ave.
As the natural resources students look toward life after high school, working beside mentors out in the community has opened up new vistas for them, said Dan Lieberman, facilitator of the 4-year-old program.
“We really want to publicly appreciate the four community partners for being so supportive of this way of learning,” he added.
As a student in the Natural Resources 2 internship course, Hannah McNabb, 18, works at the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary office on City Pier, teaching elementary school students how they can help solve the problem of marine debris.
She also travels to Neah Bay to meet with children there.
Like her fellow students, McNabb contributes to an environmental issues blog at HandsontheLand.org; her latest entry, “It all flows down,” tackles how roadside trash can end up in the ocean.
During today’s event, McNabb will discuss how she’s benefited from her five-days-a-week internship at the sanctuary.
“It’s not just what I’ve learned but also the experience I’ve gained being in an office, in a real-world situation,” said McNabb, who graduates from Lincoln High School this week.
Also today, natural resources students will present posters they have created to illustrate their endeavors with StreamKeepers, the marine sanctuary, the Feiro and the national park.
Kayla McLaughlin worked with all four organizations over four semesters and will present a poster on the whole experience.
“What I found most worthwhile,” the 17-year-old said, “was the feeling I got from knowing that I was helping the science community.” McLaughlin, a senior at Port Angeles High School, hopes to become a biologist.
The natural resources courses at the skills center are open to high school students as well as those up to age 21 who have yet to earn a high school diploma.
“I think the ultimate benefit for students is to gain transferable skills,” Lieberman said, “while actively participating in the betterment of our community.
“To students considering taking a natural resources course I say: You will be doing something meaningful for yourself and for your world.”
To find out more about this and other offerings at the skills center — including summer school classes starting later this month — visit www.NOPSC.org or phone 360-565-1533.
________
Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.