On May 28th, the Walking Mountains Youth Programs team packed into the van and hit the road before sunrise, heading East for a professional development day. Our destination? Greeley, Colorado, where we’d visit the Poudre Learning Center (PLC) and the University of Northern Colorado (UNC), home to the Master’s program in which Walking Mountains’ educators are enrolled.
The drive took about three hours, winding along river valleys and mountain passes lined with evergreen trees, until the landscape gradually shifted into 65 acres of grasslands and pristine wetlands that cradle the Poudre Learning Center, founded in 2015.
We were greeted by Jennifer Parish, the faculty liaison for Walking Mountains and UNC’s important partnership, and a former PLC educator. Jenniffer, who now serves on PLC’s board, kindly offered to guide us through the morning. We arrived just in time to see 100 excited third graders from Maplewood Elementary gather at the pavilion for their welcome from the PLC educator team.
The Youth Programs Educators and School Programs Manager are sitting in the UNC sign.
We tagged along as the students dove into hands-on outdoor learning, experiencing PLC’s mission: “To awaken a sense of wonder and inspire environmental stewardship and citizenship by educating all students through outdoor experiences and inquiry learning.” We watched students light up with curiosity through water quality testing, macroinvertebrate exploration, the water cycle, and shelter building. Pelicans floated across the lake. Baby box turtles slowly made their way across riverine paths. It was a beautiful, cloudy spring day filled with discovery.
Amid the joy, we also witnessed the center’s challenges. The programming was led entirely by part-time ambassadors, each managing large groups of up to 25 students. These ambassadors’ dedication, heart, and talent are undeniable, as is the workload they carry. PLC, operated by the Greeley-Evans School District, serves over 15,000 students each year. This large-scale impact is made possible through the hard work of part-time ambassadors and community volunteers.
After wrapping up our time at PLC, we headed to the UNC campus and were welcomed by Professor Byron, a faculty member in the university’s Science Education department. For many, it was our first time setting foot on campus. We shared lunch, snapped a photo with Claws (UNC’s iconic bear statue), toured the science department, and wandered the grounds. It was meaningful to walk the very campus supporting our growth as educators.
Our photo with Claws!
The day left us feeling inspired by the mission of environmental education to foster a brighter, more sustainable future for all. Walking Mountains and PLC share this vision; we embody resilience and persist in pursuing the goals of Environmental Education for all.
Places like the Poudre Learning Center deserve more recognition and more support. We are eager to uplift PLC as a partner in the work of environmental education and celebrate the organization’s accomplishments. Their mission is heartfelt, their reach is far, and their team of ambassadors and staff is executing deeply impactful work on a modest budget.
If their story inspires you, we encourage you to learn more about their programs, volunteer opportunities, or how to support their mission [follow this link https://plc.greeleyschools.org/].
We left Greeley feeling more connected to each other, to our partners at PLC and UNC, and to the shared purpose of delivering meaningful, outdoor-based education to students of all backgrounds.
Written by Tayler Branson. Tayler Branson, a Walking Mountains Foley Graduate fellow, wanted to share that it was Rylee Bundy’s birthday that day.
