The Forest Fridays program resumes on Friday, April 8! Teachers may sign up to take their students to the Garrison School Forest on Friday afternoons starting this week.
Local naturalist and environmental educator Pete Salmansohn expressed his excitement about the Forest Fridays program. "I'm so glad to see a reconnection with the School Forest," Salmansohn said.
Salmansohn, is an Education Coordinator with the National Audubon Society's Project Puffin Seabird Restoration Program. He's also an educator for the Hudson Highland Land Trust River of Words program. Each summer, he teaches at the Audubon camp at Hog Island in Maine. Salmansohn shared his favorite places to teach within the Garrison School Forest.
"You know where the School Forest entrance at 135 Snake Hill Road is? You make an immediate left, and there's a little stream there," Salmansohn said. "That's one of my favorite places. Even though that stream is really little, there's a lot in there. There's salamanders and frogs and fish, and all sorts of interesting water insects."
Salmansohn said he also enjoys taking students to the Blueberry Swamp. "It's a nice wetland, and it gives the kids a feeling of being away because it takes kind of a hike to get there," Salmansohn said. "Probably my favorite place is a vernal pool in the vicinity of blueberry swamp. I've taken kids there in the early spring to see breeding wood frogs and spotted salamanders.
"The South and the North Redoubts are wonderful places to go, as well, because they give children and adults alike a phenomenal panorama, and a feeling for the landscape," Salmansohn said. "Those sites show us just how lucky we are to live in an extraordinarily beautiful place."
Local naturalist and environmental educator Pete Salmansohn expressed his excitement about the Forest Fridays program. "I'm so glad to see a reconnection with the School Forest," Salmansohn said.
Salmansohn, is an Education Coordinator with the National Audubon Society's Project Puffin Seabird Restoration Program. He's also an educator for the Hudson Highland Land Trust River of Words program. Each summer, he teaches at the Audubon camp at Hog Island in Maine. Salmansohn shared his favorite places to teach within the Garrison School Forest.
"You know where the School Forest entrance at 135 Snake Hill Road is? You make an immediate left, and there's a little stream there," Salmansohn said. "That's one of my favorite places. Even though that stream is really little, there's a lot in there. There's salamanders and frogs and fish, and all sorts of interesting water insects."
Salmansohn said he also enjoys taking students to the Blueberry Swamp. "It's a nice wetland, and it gives the kids a feeling of being away because it takes kind of a hike to get there," Salmansohn said. "Probably my favorite place is a vernal pool in the vicinity of blueberry swamp. I've taken kids there in the early spring to see breeding wood frogs and spotted salamanders.
"The South and the North Redoubts are wonderful places to go, as well, because they give children and adults alike a phenomenal panorama, and a feeling for the landscape," Salmansohn said. "Those sites show us just how lucky we are to live in an extraordinarily beautiful place."