On September 4th, 2018, 25 students from Mr. Caslin’s 5th grade class had an introduction to the Arizona Trail and a short hike from school to the urban trail near their school. We learned about trail courtesy and Leave No Trace practices that are expected on our SOS outings and had a chance to practice on our short hike from […]

On August 30, 2018, 27 students from Flagstaff Arts and Leadership Academy’s Outdoor Explorations classes walked from their school towards the Schultz Pass trailhead to study edible plants local to our area.   We examined sunflowers and learned to tell when the seeds would be ready for harvesting. We looked at lambs quarters and pigweed, both of which have edible […]

On August 29, 2018, 39 students from Mr. Ross and Mrs. Chapman’s 5th grade class at Flagstaff Junior Academy visited Wupatki National Monument near Flagstaff, Arizona.   Students put on their social scientist hats to look for evidence of how the residents of this monument would have met their fundamental human needs like shelter, food, water, defense, community, art and […]

On May 24th, 2018, 16 students from Peaks School visited Ashurt Lake near the Mormon Lake passage of the Arizona Trail. The goal of the day was to conduct a “bioblitz” on the plants and animals we could find in the area and upload our findings to iNaturalist, an app where citizen scientists can add to the database of known […]

On May 22nd, 2018, 38 students from Flagstaff Junior Academy visited Marshall Lake at the intersection of the Walnut Canyon and Anderson Mesa passages on the  Arizona Trail. The goal of the day was to conduct a “bioblitz” on the plants and animals we could find in the area and upload our findings to iNaturalist, an app where citizen scientists […]

On May 18th, 2018, 9 members of the Flagstaff Junior Academy Mountain Biking Club had the chance to participate in a trail work day on the Deer Hill Trail with leadership from American Conservation Experience and Seeds of Stewardship staff.   Whether mountain bikers, trail runners, hikers, equestrians, or motorcyclists, those of us who enjoy and use trails have the […]

On May 8, 2013, 69 students from Kinsey Inquiry and Discovery School 5th grade went out to do trail work on Little Elden Trail from the Elden Lookout parking area.   With our friends from the US Forest service, half the class got to work tread repair and drainage while the other half went for a semester ending hike to […]

On May 3rd, 2018, 19 students from the 7th and 8th grade classes at the Peaks School took a 4 mile hike at Red Mountain near Flagstaff.   The students had a chance to learn about the mystery of Red Mountain geology. How did Red Mountain end up in a Horseshoe shape with fused cinders, plagioclase crystals of olivine, hornblende, […]

Every other year, the 3rd and 4th grade students from Ms. Cole’s class at Flagstaff Junior Academy does an intensive science unit of study on watersheds. In particular, they focus on our regional watershed, the Colorado River. To bring all of their learning together and into context, Seeds of Stewardship brings them to Lee’s Ferry to see the mighty Colorado […]

On April 12th, 2018, 38 students from Ms. Esparza’s class at Sinagua Middle School traveled to Kelly Pocket to put in some work on the Kelly Canyon trail network.   This brand new set of trails had been roughed in by machine and required significant hand smoothing and polishing to finish the work. Students leveled tread, improved outslope and naturalized […]

On April 10th 2018, 23 students from Ms. Elphic’s 5th grade class from Kinsey Inquiry and Discovery School made a visit to Red Mountain in the San Francisco Volcanic field north west of the San Francisco Peaks Passage of the Arizona Trail. It was an absolutely magical day of learning, hiking and bonding.   On our 4 mile round trip […]

Sometimes the most powerful way to help people understand the impact of intentional damage to our public lands is to let them experience first hand all that is at stake and how difficult mitigation can be. On April 5th, 2018, 18 students from Flagstaff Montessori had the opportunity to do just that.   Rangers from the Coconino National Forest Flagstaff […]

On March 27, 2018, 60 students from Flagstaff High School’s Pre-AP Biology class headed out to the Deer Hill Trail from Little Elden Horse Camp to learn about trail design, hydrology, and perform some trail construction on a reroute in the area.   With such a large group it is imperative to divide up the students. 30 students headed out […]

On March 15th, 2018, As preparation for future excursions I met with the 75 students of the Pre-AP Biology class at Flagstaff High School Alpine program to learn about the watershed of Flagstaff.   Over the course of 4 class periods, all 75 students learned to delineate ridges, drainages, and the outer boundaries of our Flagstaff watershed on laminated topographic […]

On February 15th, 2018 thirty-six students from Mr. Hershey’s 6th grade class at Sinagua Middle School visited the Wildcat Hill Wastewater Treatment Plant and nearby Picture Canyon. Our goal was to compare and contrast how modern and ancient humans interacted with their environments and how that relates to the adaptation of animals in the natural world.   We started our […]

On January 25th, 2018 twenty-six students from Ms. Esparza’s 6th grade class at Sinagua Middle School visited the Wildcat Hill Wastewater Treatment Plant and nearby Picture Canyon. Our goal was to compare and contrast how modern and ancient humans interacted with their environments and how that relates to the adaptation of animals in the natural world.   We started our […]