(Lander, WY) – The Lander Kiwanis Club presented a $5,000 check to Lander Middle School on Wednesday to help fund outdoor education trips for students through the Teton Science School in Jackson.
The donation will go toward a scholarship fund designed to make sure every student can participate in the program, regardless of their family’s financial situation.
Lander Middle School Assistant Principal Johnny Horton said the program grew out of a successful pilot last year called Wind River Outdoor Ed, which sent sixth graders to Whiskey Mountain Conservation Camp in Torrey Valley outside Dubois for two nights and three days. The school built that program in partnership with the Popo Agie Conservation District and other community organizations, including the Kiwanis Club.
Horton said the camp was a hit with students but came with a hefty price tag. Catering alone was a major expense, though he said the meals were a highlight for the kids.
“It’s a lot of fun for the kids,” Horton said. “They’re still talking about last year’s.”
The camp featured eight different courses, most rooted in science, with activities ranging from water ecology lessons on Trail Lake to hikes to nearby petroglyphs and a waterfall partway up the trail to Lake Louise. Horton described it as part science camp, part welcome-to-middle-school experience for incoming sixth graders.
Through those connections, Horton was introduced to Teton Science School, which offered substantial scholarships to make the trips far more affordable. He said Teton Science School is providing close to $80,000 in scholarships, bringing the cost to families down dramatically compared to the $20,000 the Whiskey Mountain program costs the district.
The Kiwanis donation will help cover the remaining gap for families who still can’t afford it.
“So now, genuinely every student has a chance to go,” Horton said.
The plan is for sixth graders to attend a trip at the beginning of the school year as a welcome to middle school, with eighth graders going on a culminating trip near the end of their final year. Horton said the eighth-grade component is pending board approval, hopefully in late April.
Kiwanis Club President Chuck Carr said the donation was an easy call for the club.
“It’s our main function, to raise money for youth and support youth programs,” Carr said.
Carr noted that the Kiwanis Club had supported the Whiskey Mountain trip last year as well. He said there used to be a program that sent students to Yellowstone, but it faded after COVID. This new partnership with Teton Science School fills that void, and with the potential to reach around 300 students, Carr said the club felt good about the impact.
“We get a lot of bang for the buck with a program that has so many students,” he said.
Sixth grader Halle Wendell Greene, who went on the Whiskey Mountain trip last year, said she’s excited for the new program.
“We got to go outside a lot, meet some new people and have a lot of fun,” Greene said. “It was really pretty too… It’s exciting that we get to go to Jackson now!”