The Junior Land Stewards teachers come together one last time this year to explore the sand dunes at Roosevelt Beach through one often-overlooked sense: smell. Alongside time in nature, the group reflected on the year’s successes and challenges and discussed ways to continue strengthening the program for next year, including supporting more combined 4th/5th grade classrooms.

Teachers also shared ideas for making nature journaling prompts even more accessible for students, including using examples from past journals to help spark interpretation and creativity.

As a small thank you for all they bring to the program, teachers were gifted Coastside Land Trust hats and travel watercolor sets to encourage nature journaling wherever they go.

We are deeply grateful for these educators and their commitment to helping students build meaningful relationships with the natural world.