JAN JARVIS - JJARVIS@SIERRASTAR.COM
Jennifer Norman of YHS jumping into Sarapique River during the lunch
break of the river rafting tour. SUBMITTED
Samantha Jo Masai of YHS holding a Leatherback hatchling before
she releases it into the Caribbean Ocean. SUBMITTED
Last summer,
nine students from Yosemite High School experienced the adventure
of a lifetime by spending 11 days in Costa Rica, learning about
the wildlife and environment there. The group, led by YHS biology
teacher Carol Calderwood, raised their own money for the trip which
included observing sea turtles, visiting a butterfly farm, participating
in beach clean-ups, and living with local families in different
parts of the country.
A program
of value
Ms. Calderwood learned about the program at a science convention
she attended and thought it would be of value for her students.
The program is sponsored by Ecoteach, a non-profit foundation established
to increase awareness of ecological issues with young people in
the United States, and to encourage Costa Ricans to become involved
in these issues in their country.
Sign-ups began at YHS and by the deadline, nine students had their
bags packed and were ready to go. They had raised money throughout
the year with projects such as selling carnations at Valentine’s
Day and washing cars, to help finance their trip, and also had the
support of friends and relatives who wanted to see them succeed.
The YHS group spent their Costa Rican time with a group of students
from Medford, Oregon. Ecoteach believes that meeting and making
friends is as important to the students as the environmental and
cultural lessons they learn.
Beach
patrols and dancing
The students landed in San Jose, then went by boat to Parismina,
on the Caribbean side of the country. “They started at the Caribbean
and ended at the Pacific Ocean,” said Ms. Calderwood. Parismina
is a small town and lodging was in an even smaller motel with no
hot water. The group spent their time participating in beach clean-ups.
They patrolled the beaches at night, removing trash and debris,
and played soccer and learned to dance with local students during
the day.
Ecoteach believes that the key to a successful program is buy-in
from local community members. Therefore, they encourage Costa Ricans
to learn about their own country from an ecological standpoint and
have developed economic incentives to promote this approach. For
example, some of the host families, in exchange for housing students,
are given trees to plant which provide habitat for Costa Rica’s
green macaw.
Costa Rica’s Caribbean beaches are the fourth largest nesting places
in the world for the endangered leatherback sea turtle. Ecoteach
allows students to participate in conservation efforts such as patrolling
the beaches during hatching season and working at turtle hatcheries,
even doing things such as digging holes for incubating turtle eggs
which must be the exact size as the holes the mother turtle would
dig. There is such a strong conservation effort to preserve these
turtles that the Costa Rican Coast Guard patrols for poachers.
In order to mix work with fun, the trip was designed so that the
students could stay in upscale hotels as well as more modest ones.
In La Fortuna, they stayed in a five-star resort before heading
off to the countryside once more.
An alternative
to poaching
One of the next stops was to a butterfly farm. Costa Rica has several
colorful species of native butterflies which are captured for their
beauty. The butterfly farm was created so that people who wanted
to buy these creatures could have a domestic source, thereby putting
less pressure on the wild population. The butterflies are raised
to be used in decorative items which are sold and their proceeds
are used to support the farm. The butterfly larva is also shipped
to zoos worldwide. It is illegal to ship live butterflies into the
U.S., for example, so the larva is sent instead. Several U.S. zoos
now have butterfly displays similar to free-flight aviaries.
Ecoteach has gone to great lengths to encourage local support of
conservation. One of Costa Rica’s biggest employers is Intel and
although the country is not as poor as some of its neighbors, resources
are limited. The YHS group brought school supplies with them to
give to students they met and Ms. Calderwood hopes to be able to
bring even more on the next trip. “I think it would be wonderful
to take a microscope with us, and show the students how to use it,”
she said.
Everyone at YHS agreed there would be a “next year,” even though
it will actually be in 2005. One of their fund-raisers is selling
tillandsias from Tillandsia International in Coarsegold and another
will probably be selling shade-grown Costa Rican coffee. For Samantha,
an adventure which began with her first plane trip turned into her
dream and “I didn’t want my dream to be over,” she said. “Everyone
there is so friendly. It was a lot of fun and a great trip.”
So keep your eyes open for the dedicated YHS students working their
way to another visit to Costa Rica. They’ll be the ones who can
tell you all about sea turtles, macaws and which is more beautiful
— the Caribbean or the Pacific.
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