Wild on the West Coast
On November 13th I packed my rain pants, wool socks, gum boots, and a bin filled with educational goodies into a rental Toyota Corolla I’d nicknamed “Blue Steel” for the week. I was about five minutes outside of Victoria when I realized I’d left my CDs (yes, I live without an iPod) in my apartment. Top 40 club music it was, then. I was on the TransCanada and I was on a mission. Sierra Club BC was hitting the west coast, school program style.
The drive to Tofino was surprisingly clear (for those of you off-island this means only a few showers, and only one or two slippery turns thinking ‘I should probably slow down’ through the passes). Lee-Ann Unger from the Clayoquot Conservation Alliance and her husband James graciously hosted me in their beautiful home, complete with a dog, two cats, and two adorable kittens.
Monday morning I was up bright and early for a float plane to Hot Springs Cove, about 50 km north of Tofino, on Vancouver Island. I was prepared for a windy and rainy flight but for some reason the water cycle decided to cut me some slack for my Halifax hurricane days. The sky was clear, the water pristine blue, and the islands of Clayoquot Sound took my breath away. Shaun, the friendly pilot, was probably all too familiar with the wide-eyed face and uncontrollable shutter clicking coming from the seat beside him.
When I arrived in Hot Springs Cove I delivered Sierra Club BC’s ‘Going Wild’ program to the elementary school. This program focuses on wild products from coastal temperate rainforests: berries, mushrooms, bark, leaves, and much more. The students learn about different harvesting practices, ways to use these products, and start to explore concepts of sustainable economies and entrepreneurship. The school has one class consisting of grades K-7 students, all who were eager to learn and have fun. Such an energetic class!
- Hot Springs Cove, Vancouver Island. Photo: Meg Banavage
After the program, I was told if I get all the way to Hot Springs Cove and I don’t trek out to the hot springs I’m just plain silly. So I called the float plane from the school, asked for a later pick-up from the other dock, and jumped in a boat that was going across to the Spring side. The walk to the hot springs was absolutely breathtaking! It takes about 20 minutes if you don’t stop for photos or to stare out at the ocean and thank the Universe for this amazing opportunity. Needless to say, it took me about half an hour until I smelled sulphur. That smell only means one thing: after a day running around with kids, it was time to relax by the ocean, watch nuthatches drink from the waterfalls, and feel the crashing waves of the Pacific.
No Education Program trip would be complete without a little misunderstanding, and for this trip it came in the form of the float plane. Long story short, as the sun went down in The Forest of No Cell Reception, I waited, waited a bit more, was offered to hop aboard the last water taxi heading to Tofino, the plane arrived late, and now I can say I’ve heard my name called over a satellite radio as a missing person. Oh, the adventures! We boated past sea otters, harbour seals, and minks, and Tofino Air was all too amazing when we sorted the mishap out.
The next morning I was greeted again with beautiful skies and boarded a water taxi to Flores Island with Dan from Friends of Clayoquot Sound (a wonderful extra pair of hands in the classroom)! A light dusting of snow crunched under our feet as we walked up to Maaqtusiis Elementary School, ready for three more ‘Going Wild’ programs! We went outside to understand some uses of wild products, and suddenly we had students running around, transformed into canoes, root-harvesters, medicine-makers and an entire forest ecosystem. We tasted nettle and seaweed, and talked about seasonal harvesting. A full day!
- Float plane over Clayoquot Sound. Photo: Meg Banavage
By Wednesday Tofino had decided I’d been lucky enough; I awoke to rain, wind, and smiled. ‘Now we’re talkin’, rainforest!’ Off I went to Wickaninnish Community School. Three days of ‘Going Wild’ in a row and students still have creativity that amazes me. The stories of making jam with their parents and grandparents, knowledge of stripping bark, watching them make the connections between wild forest products and food, medicine, tools, arts, and crafts. This is why Sierra Club educators love our job: we hear kids tell us every day how cool they think the environment is (and we get to play in mud).
After Wickaninnish I loaded the car and prepared to get on the road while it was still light out. The pass had been closed due to snow earlier in the day, so I spent a bit of time at the Co-op gas station chatting with a bus driver and wishing I didn’t have to leave just yet. But there were students in Nanaimo waiting, so it was into Blue Steel, and a farewell to the west coast as I pumped “we gonna rock this club, we gonna go all night!” It wasn’t my Ting Tings CD, but it would have to do.
Thursday I spent the day at Ecole Quarterway School with grades 4-7 classrooms. We played games, touched, smelled, and tasted wild products, and had discussions about sustainable ways to harvest these things from the forest. I am a firm believer that youth can be truly excited and motivated about environmental action if only they are exposed to the issues, and presented with ways that they can rise to the challenge to become the sustainable leaders of tomorrow AND today.
After five days on the road I drove through some flurries on the Malahat, feeling energized and exhausted all at once. Working with students is what keeps me going in this field. Take it from the mouth of a 5th grader, “Something I learned today is I can make a difference”. It’s hard not to believe it for yourself when a 10 year old states it so clearly.
A special thank you to the Hesquiaht, Ahousaht, and Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations for welcoming us into your communities.
Meg Banavage
School Programs Coordinator and New-found Top 40 club music lover
