KAREN BREWSTER: Uh, this is Karen Brewster. Today is May 6, 2024, and I’m here in Anchorage, Alaska, at the Campbell Creek Science Center with Luise Wolflein. And this is for the Iditarod National Historic Trail Project Jukebox, and we’re gonna talk mostly today about the iTREC! program and Luise’s involvement with the trail that way. And we will hear more about it. So thank you for finding time today. LUISE WOLFLEIN: Sure.

KAREN BREWSTER: Um, so you said a little bit before we started, but just when you came to Alaska and started this -- your pos -- what’s your current position?

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Yeah, so I am the Public Programs and Statewide Support Coordinator at the BLM Campbell Creek Science Center.

I’ve been here for twenty-two and a half -- I’m sorry, twenty-one and a half years. And uh, yeah, I moved to Alaska before coming to work for the BLM.

KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. And so, you were saying you moved to Alaska in 1996?

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Correct. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. Um, and what’s your educational background? Are you an educator or a scientist or --

LUISE WOLFLEIN: So I have -- KAREN BREWSTER: (inaudible) LUISE WOLFLEIN: -- my -- my academic training is more science-oriented. I have a bachelors in biology and a masters in environmental studies. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: And my work experience, even starting in college, has been in environmental education.

I just really enjoy helping people understand how the natural world works, help them connect to nature, to wild places, to their own back -- natural backyards. KAREN BREWSTER: Mm-hm. LUISE WOLFLEIN: So that’s -- yeah.

KAREN BREWSTER: And where did you grow up, and where did you get your degrees?

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Uh, my family moved around quite a bit as I was growing up. I was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and we lived in and around there until I was about six and a half.

And then we moved to Chicago, Illinois, and we lived there until I was eleven. And then we moved to Tokyo, Japan. KAREN BREWSTER: Oh.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Where I lived until I was 14. Then we moved to Connecticut, where I went to high school.

And my family stayed in New England until after I graduated from college. And I went to Brown University for my undergrad, and I went to what is now the Yale School of the Environment for my masters.

KAREN BREWSTER: It’s now the Yale School of Forestry? LUISE WOLFLEIN: No, it used to be -- KAREN BREWSTER: No? LUISE WOLFLEIN: -- the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies when I was there. Now it’s Yale School of the Environment. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. LUISE WOLFLEIN: Yeah.

KAREN BREWSTER: I didn’t realize it had changed names. LUISE WOLFLEIN: Yes. I think originally it was the Yale School of Forestry. When I went there, it was the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. And now, the Environment.

KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. Um, so when did you start this position? LUISE WOLFLEIN: In -- September 30, 2002.

KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. And uh, what drew you to this work? LUISE WOLFLEIN: Uh, well, as I said before, I’ve just always -- just I mean, from -- from long time ago, I’ve enjoyed helping people understand how the natural world works. KAREN BREWSTER: Mm-hm.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: And uh, I also like writing. And my early career was spent working for non-profit conservation organizations and developing materials to help teachers teach science and environmental education, get environmental topics into what they were doing.

I mov -- when I moved here, I taught school for my first year, and then my husband and I started our own consulting firm, which we did conservation education consulting work for five years.

And during that time, this position came open, and it seemed like just a really good matchup of my interests, and it, you know, it's like, in my backyard.

And I’d already come here. I’d come here for public programs. I was one of the people who rented the facility. I’d done some workshops, led some workshops here.

And so, now there was a position open, and it just seemed like a great opportunity. KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah. LUISE WOLFLEIN: So, yeah.

KAREN BREWSTER: And so, iTREC!, which is the educational component related to the Iditarod Trail, what does i -- what does that stand for? Do you remember? LUISE WOLFLEIN: Iditarod Trail to Every Classroom. Mm-hm.

KAREN BREWSTER: So can you talk about that program?

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Sure. So um, let’s see. Kevin Keeler, uh, called me up one day and said that there was going to be a meeting about a proposed education project that BLM might be involved with.

And uh, that the science center might want to be involved with, as well. And did we want to come join?

So myself and my counterpart for education programs, they -- the science center’s work is basically divided into the public side, and then the field trips and other programming for school-aged kids as part of school. KAREN BREWSTER: Mm-hm.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: And so the two of us went to a meeting at the other end of the Campbell Tract where you’re going to meet Kevin. KAREN BREWSTER: Mm-hm.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: And it -- there’s a big conference room there, and there was a huge group of people assembled. And the -- I think Kevin, and the Forest Service, and the Alliance, had organized this meeting, inviting all sorts of people who might be interested in knowing about this project and potentially partnering to make it happen, come together and hear about it.

And so, I was there. Uh, they laid out the whole, you know, what it was based off of, what the vision was, and asked for input and, you know, interest.

And both myself and my counterpart thought it was just awesome, and we were really excited to help BLM make it happen. And she left very shortly thereafter. She moved back to the Lower 48, and her position wasn’t filled for a long time. And I ended up being the lead for the science center for it, and have been ever since.

KAREN BREWSTER: And what was her name? LUISE WOLFLEIN: Jennifer Fox.

KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. Um, and so, what was it that got you so excited about it?

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Um, I really liked that it was going to help -- One, help teachers understand why getting kids outside to learn is important.

Two, um, get their -- them and their students involved in projects that would benefit their community, and that they would be using the outdoors and those projects to help teach things that they already had to teach.

There was not going to be a curriculum developed for them. They were going to be in the driver’s seat of what was being created.

You know, teacher by teacher, so that the, um, you know, the implementation -- the development and implementation was going to make total sense for their position in their school in their community. You know, just yeah, I was just excited by that.

And then the empowerment for students that such experiences would bring. It just seemed like a phenomenal way to get people -- kids from an early age involved in making a difference in their community, and thus producing -- more likely to produce people who are engaged throughout the rest of their lives in what’s going on.

I mean, as a federal land management agency, we need and want people who are paying attention, and who are involved in helping us with land management issues. KAREN BREWSTER: Mm-hm.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: And so, here we’re going to start from a young age, empowering kids to do these things and creating the citizenry that we want to see. So it was exciting.

KAREN BREWSTER: So do you know how it came about? You said Kevin and the Alliance, you know, presented this plan for this, I don’t know, I guess it’s not a curriculum, but this project.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: It’s a professional development training. KAREN BREWSTER: And it came from someplace else. Do you know who -- how that all came about?

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Yeah. So um, there is a similar program on the East Coast, um, the Appalachian Trail to Every Classroom. And a woman at the Forest Service had gone to a presentation during, I think, a Hike the Hill event. KAREN BREWSTER: Mm-hm.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: In D.C. At which Judy (Bittner) from the Alliance was also present. And she’d been to this presentation, and I think actually that she’d seen it once, and then she saw it again a second year.

And she was really inspired by it. And she thought, you know, shoot, the Iditarod Trail could do this for teachers in communities along it in the same way, and have the same impacts.

And so, I think it was because of her attending presentations about the Appalachian Trail to Every Classroom that inspired her to say, "Hey, we could make this happen."

KAREN BREWSTER: Her being Judy Bittner, or her being the Forest Service person?

LUISE WOLFLEIN: The Forest Service person. Um, whose name I forge -- Jaime. Whose name I can’t remember right now. Annette (Heckert) will tell you. Um, I’m just -- it’s just blank in my mind, for some reason. KAREN BREWSTER: That’s ok. LUISE WOLFLEIN: Um, but, yeah.

KAREN BREWSTER: It’s not Jaime Schmidt, no? LUISE WOLFLEIN: Yeah. Jaime Schmidt. KAREN BREWSTER: Is that right? LUISE WOLFLEIN: Mm-hm. KAREN BREWSTER: Oh, ok. LUISE WOLFLEIN: Yeah. KAREN BREWSTER: I’ve seen the name. Ok.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Yeah, so. Um, yeah. And so, you know -- and I think she got Judy excited about it, and maybe Kevin at the same time, and then they got -- so um, the Appalachian Trail to Every Classroom program had been spearheaded by a woman named Rita Hennessey with the National Park Service, and I believe it was part of her masters program.

And Jaime and Judy and Annette and Kevin recruited Rita, and then Delia Clark, who was the facilitator of the Appalachian Trail to Every Classroom workshops. They got both of them to come up and be part of that meeting that I mentioned. KAREN BREWSTER: Mm-hm.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Where I first heard about it. Where, yeah, this idea was floated to a larger group.

KAREN BREWSTER: Do you remember what year that was? LUISE WOLFLEIN: No. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. LUISE WOLFLEIN: Well, if it’s been 14 years, then. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. LUISE WOLFLEIN: Uh. KAREN BREWSTER: Two thousand -- LUISE WOLFLEIN: Ten, nine? KAREN BREWSTER: Seven? Somewhere in there? I’m sure, Annette -- Judy may have told me in my interview with her.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Yeah, uh, yeah, it was, yeah. KAREN BREWSTER: Somewhere around there. Ok. LUISE WOLFLEIN: Somewhere back.

KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. So can you describe what iTREC! is, you know, how it works, what it --

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Sure. So iTREC! is a professional development program for K-12 teachers. And it was designed for teachers teaching in communities along the historic trail. So all the way from Seward to Nome.

Uh, it has been conducted as a series of workshops. The first one, a summer, week-long workshop, which has been held in Anchorage or Girdwood. And then two follow-up workshops, a fall workshop in November in Seward and then April in Nome.

So the workshops themselves were held in different communities along the historic trail, including the start and the finish. KAREN BREWSTER: Right. LUISE WOLFLEIN: Whichever way you look at the start and the finish. KAREN BREWSTER: Right.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: The workshops introduced teachers to place-based service learning, which is the, um, what -- approach that this professional development is based upon.

And so, it taught -- it, you know, was designed to teach the teachers why getting outside matters. What place-based service learning is. Where it fits in the scheme of other environmental education approaches. Of what is different about it.

You know, it’s not just getting kids outside to volunteer and do something, but that whatever they’re doing in their community is integrated into the learning that they’re doing in the classroom. It ties to all the things the teachers have to teach. And it makes sense in their community.

And it may, you know -- it in itself may not involve being outside necessarily, you know, but it’s definitely something that makes a difference in their community where they are.

So it teaches all those principles. It teaches the teachers tools they can use to help connect their kids to place. So easy things to do outside, ways to integrate subjects with the outdoors.

And it also shows them -- you know, gives them some of the background for the effectiveness of this approach, the successes it has had in other places. Um, examples of things that teachers in other places have done with their students.

And then, it gives them a framework for developing their own curriculum for, as I said before, their grade level, school environment, and community that makes sense. KAREN BREWSTER: Mm-hm.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: So -- And then, the fall and spring workshops would sort of take them through developing, filling out this framework for their curriculum. And that is how the program was structured for most of its tenure so far.

But, um, about maybe six years ago, we switched it up a little bit so that the first -- that summer workshop plus leading up to the fall workshop, that time period was focused on all the benefits and reasons to do it, and get your kids outside, and all of that, plus a focus on how would a teacher shift their practice during that time to --

And they could do it at whatever level. They’re going to get their kids outside once a month. They’re going to get their kids outside once a week. They’re going to bring topics into the classroom that they’ve never done before. Whatever it was, just some sort of shift.

And then they would spend from the fall -- so, the start of the fall workshop through the spring workshop focused on curriculum development. Um, and yeah.

So the workshops gave teachers a chance to develop curriculum, get feedback from the people teaching the workshops, as well as from their peers. They’ve got that peer feedback at the spring workshop.

Um, they -- another key component was, um -- so I’ve mentioned that they want to -- it’s designed to help teachers get involved, get their students involved in the community. So how does one do that? So part of that is, investigating your community, knowing who your partners might be.

And to that end, part of the summer workshop involved -- had us bringing partners, like example partners from the Anchorage community to the workshop, so that they could share what they do. And many teachers come from Anchorage, so here were partners they could tap into automatically.

Or if they came from the Mat-Su (Matansuka-Susitna Valley), or Seward or Nome or where -- places in between, it would give them ideas of types of groups they might be looking for.

So um, they got to meet these people, talk about the ideas that they were having, get their input on their ideas, even if, you know, the Alaska Botanical Garden, or the Anchorage Park Foundation, or the Department of Natural Resources, whatever.

Even if they weren’t going to directly help in the project in Unalakleet or wherever, they might have ideas of other people to check with or things they might do, partners they could look for.

So anyway, that partnership component was really important as part of the professional development workshops.

They also, along the way, got a good dose of trail history, because obviously, you know, we were motivated to help them all understand the Iditarod Trail itself, its history, um, its current state, and the ways in which people help today.

And so, we -- part of the -- it started at summer, but then it became the fall workshop in Seward. Um, Dan Seavey and Lee Poleske came to share trail history. Um, the development of the race. The trail from the earliest days. What motivated creation of it, how that happened.

Um, and we got teachers on the trail. You know, there in Seward. Uh, in Nome, sort of. I mean, we got them outside. We did actually always have our closing ceremony on the ice, uh, where the mushers come before they head up into town. KAREN BREWSTER: Mm-hm. LUISE WOLFLEIN: To the burled arch.

Uh, so yeah, we would get them on the trail everywhere we could. We’d get them on the trail in Girdwood when we did workshops down there.

So anyway, I think that’s -- oh, and another thing that we covered in these workshops was points about getting your kids outside safely. Like, what are the things you need to think about? Doing, -- taking field trips, or, you know, everything from getting a blanket field trip permission form that would enable you to take kids out the doors to the neighbor park -- neighboring park, during the school year anytime you wanted to. Like, what are just the safety things to think about? You know.

KAREN BREWSTER: Proper clothing.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Yeah. Exactly. Proper clothing. How -- What sort of rules of behavior to set up for the kids outdoors. Being sure that everything lined up with general safety practices for the school. You know, all of that.

So it was really comprehensive, um -- comprehensive look at, you know, why it’s important, how to do it, tools to use to do it, and ways to get involved in the community. How to make things that make sense in your community. Examples of things other teachers have done.

All wrapped up in this thread that connected them all, the Iditarod Trail and the history of that trail.

KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah, it’s an interesting way to do environmental education, by using a trail.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Yeah, the trail gave, um, it gave focus for each individual teacher, but it also gave this connection. It connected all of the teachers involved each year, and year to year, to each other.

And the, uh, you know, that aspect of it, connecting teachers to each other, creating that community of practice around this particular approach to education was really important. And one of the things that they really valued about it, as well. So, yeah.

KAREN BREWSTER: Well, and um, place-based learning now it -- it's sort of a buzz-word, and it’s very popular now. When this started, I don’t know if it was as common practice?

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Oh, I think place-based learning, I think it has been around for quite a while. And then service learning has been around for a while.

Folding the two together, uh, I don’t think -- I don’t -- Yeah, I don’t think it was as well known when this started.

KAREN BREWSTER: So what is service learning?

LUISE WOLFLEIN: So service learning is where you, um, do something to benefit your community. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. LUISE WOLFLEIN: And learn something in the process. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Like, we’re going to go pull weeds, invasive weeds, in Westchester Lagoon. And at the start of it, somebody tells us why, um, weeds -- invasive weeds are a problem in Westchester Lagoon area. KAREN BREWSTER: Right. LUISE WOLFLEIN: And then we go pull ’em. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. LUISE WOLFLEIN: That’s a service learning project.

KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. And you sort of said it before, but um, the importance of place-based learning and -- and how is it that it’s so successful?

LUISE WOLFLEIN: So I think one of the best examples maybe is from Seward. There are a number of good ones, but I’ll use this.

So in Seward, the teacher had an interest in water quality, and I think maybe, I don’t know if curriculum-wise, had to cover topics related to that.

So um -- so she -- so she got her kids involved as part of school and part of her project, um, moni -- going out and testing the water quality in a local stream.

And the kids, being there, and with kind of her presenting all of this in a broader context, noticed things like erosion on the stream bank, and stuff in the water, and um, that the stream was called, um, Fish Ditch.

And -- and they did some research, and -- you know, oh, and it’s a -- it's an anadromous stream, but it’s not included in the anadromous streams. It’s not recognized by the state as being an anadromous stream.

And so, what started as just like a -- kind of, we’ll test the water quality, and maybe over time we’ll test this water quality, became -- I mean the kids took -- you know, took the stream by the rocks, or whatever would be an analogy.

Anyway, they ended up, uh -- they ended up pulling together a group of people in Seward who had never been pulled together before to talk about a stream and have discussions about this.

And in the end, they formally changed the name of the stream from Fish Ditch to Scheffler Creek. They got it included in the state, um, list of anadromous streams.

They got the local -- somebody -- there was a local land owner, uh, who they got to do -- I believe this is correct. Got to do some re-vegetation or keep animals away from the stream bank to allow native vegetation to grow in. Um, and like, they did this.

KAREN BREWSTER: And what was the age group for those kids? LUISE WOLFLEIN: They were fifth grade students. KAREN BREWSTER: Wow. LUISE WOLFLEIN: You know, it’s pretty cool. KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: In Girdwood, uh, I think it was kindergarteners and second grade teachers teamed up. Um, because the kids had an interest in wildlife and in bears in Girdwood.

And uh, that grew into the two classes putting together a community awareness campaign around bears called “Bear Aware Girdwood.”

And they did -- the little ones, first graders, did um, PSAs (public service announcements). KAREN BREWSTER: Aww. LUISE WOLFLEIN: That they wrote themselves, and then they -- I’m sure they had help from the teacher. KAREN BREWSTER: Right.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: But they went to the local radio station and recorded them with the help of the local DJ, and those aired all summer.

And they sponsored an event at the Wildlife Conservation Center. They had an art open house at the hotel.

They produced their own, um, you know, drawings for various bear aware messaging. You know, like take your bird feeders down, secure your garbage. You know, they did all of this.

They distributed -- you know, they made buttons that they gave out. Uh, yeah. It was amazing. And then it ended up -- like they kept doing it for at least three or four years. KAREN BREWSTER: Wow.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Um. Yeah. It was quite a thing. Again, I mean, these are little kids. KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Making a difference in their community. Um, and through it, learning bear biology, human/bear conflicts, bear safety. Like all these things. So yeah.

KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah, so the projects the teachers work on through the workshops, through iTREC!, don’t have to be something about the Iditarod Trail specifically?

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Correct. Right. Some people do do things specifically about the trail. At Machetanz Elementary, the teachers made a to-scale -- They have a walking loop, and they made a to-scale Iditarod Trail on that walking loop.

So like, you could walk to Nome. KAREN BREWSTER: Right. LUISE WOLFLEIN: And you can -- stops along the way.

And um, another school-- I forget which one it was. Another school in the (Mat-Su) Valley, did that, too, and the trail went from their school to the historic society. KAREN BREWSTER: Mm-hm.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: But so, you know, these to-scale things get the kids doing all the math. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. LUISE WOLFLEIN: Of how to space these communities, checkpoints, whatever, along the trail. Um.

KAREN BREWSTER: And then they get to walk the trail. LUISE WOLFLEIN: Mm-hm. Exactly. Every day. KAREN BREWSTER: Right. LUISE WOLFLEIN: Whenever they go out there. KAREN BREWSTER: Right.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Yeah. Um, another class at Machetanz looked -- they were interested in the early history of Wasilla-Palmer, and all the folks who came up to, you know, farm the land.

KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah, the Mat -- the farmers, yeah. LUISE WOLFLEIN: Yeah. And they planted a garden.

You know, they were -- in learning about the history, they planted a garden at the school that mimicks the things that the early settlers were growing in their farm, in their kitchen gardens.

KAREN BREWSTER: Cool. That’s a great idea.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Yeah. Mm-hm. So, you know, history, but not exactly trail history. Um, yeah. People --

Teachers have created multiple outdoor classrooms in Anchorage. Um, that -- like there’s one in Russian Jack. Well, I guess there’s a couple in Russian Jack Park, um, near Nunaka Valley Elementary School.

There’s one on the grounds of the Sand Lake Elementary, which I still haven’t seen, but I really want to go to because there were -- the class -- a class or classes in the Japanese immersion program did it, and it -- from the pictures I’ve seen, it has a very Japanese aesthetic, including a Torii gate entrance. KAREN BREWSTER: Mm-hm.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Um, there’s ones at schools in the Valley. Uh, so it’s -- you know, pretty -- And those, they created and any teacher in the school can use it.

KAREN BREWSTER: So what -- yeah, so what is an outdoor classroom? What does that mean?

LUISE WOLFLEIN: So it’s, uh, an outdoor space with infrastructure that lends itself to students being out there and able to do, like, written work.

There’s some sort of tables or chairs or something outside to make it easier for kids to sit there. KAREN BREWSTER: Mm-hm. LUISE WOLFLEIN: And write or do -- KAREN BREWSTER: Or draw or --?

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Yeah. And the, um, in Russian Jack, they couldn’t place picnic tables in the park, so they came up with this clever idea of these posts with slots in them. KAREN BREWSTER: Mm-hm.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: And then the teacher has these metal plates that slip into the slots and become e -- they’re at various heights, so a student can put a thing here and stand there and write, or they can put it down lower and sit down and write.

And then the teacher packs all those metal plates up at the end, and all that’s there are these posts. KAREN BREWSTER: Interesting.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: So it’s very low-profile.

Um, at Sand Lake, they made sitting, -- you know, like benchy kinds of things in Wolverine Park by Campbell STEM. They had picnic tables that they put in. So it varies. KAREN BREWSTER: Mm-hm.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: But it’s just that infrastructure to create a place to work when you’re outside as a, you know, student learning.

KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. Um, so for the iTREC! program, how are teachers recruited?

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Uh, we worked through the STEM department. So initially, we worked through the STEM department. We, uh --

KAREN BREWSTER: Which STEM is --? LUISE WOLFLEIN: Oh, sorry. Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: We worked through them to find, you know, to recruit teachers. And that will be able to tell you if -- I can’t remember if right out of the gate we targeted Girdwood, or if we got a bunch of interest, and having had that interest, then we dove deep in Girdwood. Um, but we did end up recruiting teachers for several years from Girdwood.

Uh, so the initial year, we reached out through the Anchorage STEM department and through contacts in schools to recruit teachers. And in subsequent years, we used teachers who’d been through the program to help us recruit other good teachers to be in the program. KAREN BREWSTER: Mm-hm.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: In addition to general reach-out to schools. And so that helped. And we -- we created flyers that we sent to schools. Um.

KAREN BREWSTER: So in schools in all the communities along the trail? LUISE WOLFLEIN: Mm-hm. Yeah. And yeah.

KAREN BREWSTER: And what’s -- is there a limited number of people per year?

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Yes. So, and that was partly driven by budget. And then, the number of teachers we could get from schools off the road system was limited because of the increased costs for them to go to every workshop.

So yes. I think we started out -- I think twenty was the most we ever had. Judy or Annette would know better. Um, yeah. But I think it was anywhere from twelve to twenty.

KAREN BREWSTER: And where did the money come from for this program?

LUISE WOLFLEIN: So uh, the BLM has an assistance agreement with the Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance. Um, they’re the nonprofit partner with BLM for management of the trail.

And so, a lot of money came from BLM to the Alliance. And then I think that the Forest Service also put in money. And then, the board of the Alliance allocated some of their operating budget toward it, as well.

KAREN BREWSTER: Do you know, on average, what it costs every year to operate it? LUISE WOLFLEIN: No. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. LUISE WOLFLEIN: Judy. Judy or Annette. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. LUISE WOLFLEIN: Judy would know.

KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah. I was just thinking how much money you had to put on this very complicated, multi-workshop -- LUISE WOLFLEIN: Yeah. KAREN BREWSTER: -- thing.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Yeah. Judy will know. Um, and we did it, uh, I think we did it pretty efficiently.

For the first few years, the summer workshop was in Girdwood. Teachers were at the hotel. The workshop happened in the hotel.

And then the fall workshop in Seward, and the, um, spring workshop in Nome were both done initially using Park Service facilities.

And then ultimately, we moved the Girdwood to Anchorage, using UAA (University of Alaska Anchorage), the BP Energy Center, to run workshops. And so, that streamlined costs.

It was really important to us at every workshop that the teachers feel -- understand that we recognize them as the professionals that they are, and to make them, you know -- We provided food and -- and their accommodations and everything so that they really felt -- they were recognized as the professionals they are, so.

KAREN BREWSTER: Mm-hm. And I was wondering if any of the local school districts might have helped fund one of their teachers? You know, if like, off the road system, if a teacher wanted to come, if they could get some assistance from their local district?

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Yeah, so the Alliance -- by being in the program, the teachers got their travel paid, the costs of the workshop covered, and they also got -- Because the fall workshops involved -- they always started on a Friday, the two of them started midday on Friday, they got subs paid for that Friday. So that was a benefit to the school. It wasn’t going to cost the school anything to have the teacher go.

Uh, looking at budgets and thinking about ways to be more fiscally, um, I don’t know, not responsible, but just taking into account shrinking budgets, we did talk about -- I mean, there was one principal who said that she would pay for such training for her teachers, and that we should try and get school districts or schools or whatever to pay for this training.

So we know schools do spend money on professional development. And we are happy to provide this professional development. We haven’t had too much success yet getting a school district to say they would like to have us do it. KAREN BREWSTER: Right. LUISE WOLFLEIN: But.

KAREN BREWSTER: And now, yeah, nowadays, shrinking budgets more and more, school districts have so many things that they’re trying to pay for.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Right. Right. Yes. Yep. And I think there’s been shifts in what teachers are required to do.

This workshop -- this professional development was set up so that teachers participating in it could earn continuing education credits, which they are required to do. So it was a, albeit intense, but very rewarding way to earn those credits. KAREN BREWSTER: Mm-hm.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Yeah, the teachers who participated always had great things to say about the program. In recent years, I think there’s been a shift in what the teachers are required to do, and that we haven’t had much --

We didn’t have much interest last year in a summer workshop. And we think it’s because of what teachers are required to do now. It’s not what they were required to do before.

KAREN BREWSTER: To get their continuing ed credits? LUISE WOLFLEIN: Yeah. KAREN BREWSTER: ’Cause they still are require --? LUISE WOLFLEIN: They don’t need them, or they don’t need as many -- KAREN BREWSTER: I was going to say, aren’t they still requ -- are required to get continuing ed credits?

LUISE WOLFLEIN: I’m not sure. I just know there’s been a shift in what they’re required to do. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: And so, that has made this type of thing less appealing, I guess. KAREN BREWSTER: Mm-hm. LUISE WOLFLEIN: Especially in the summer.

KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah. Um, so you’ve talked a lot about Anchorage. So were most of the teachers that have been involved over the years mostly Anchorage, Girdwood, Seward?

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Yes. I would say, Anchorage, Mat-Su, uh, Seward, yeah. I mean, Anchorage, Mat-Su have been the bulk of the teachers. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: But we have had teachers from Nome and Ruby and Galena. And we had two teachers start in Unalakleet, but then things shifted in their school year, and they both had to drop out. KAREN BREWSTER: Mm.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Um, multiple teachers in Nome. Um, Seward, uh, we had some teachers from Talkeetna join, as well, one year. A little off the trail, but --

KAREN BREWSTER: Down the road, they connect in Willow. LUISE WOLFLEIN: Down the road, yeah, exactly. Only off by a little bit. KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: We also did have some teachers from Cordova. KAREN BREWSTER: Oh, that’s a little bit farther away. LUISE WOLFLEIN: A little bit farther away, but part -- they’re in the Chugach Forest, and so --

KAREN BREWSTER: They were allowed to participate? LUISE WOLFLEIN: Mm-hm. Yeah. Uh, and I’m trying to think, so just off the top of my head. Those are -- KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. LUISE WOLFLEIN: Rural schools that participated. Yeah. But mo -- yeah. A large percentage is Anchorage and the Mat-Su.

KAREN BREWSTER: And um, they’re K-12? LUISE WOLFLEIN: Mm-hm. Yep. KAREN BREWSTER: And so do they -- LUISE WOLFLEIN: Actually, pre-K. KAREN BREWSTER: Oh, really?

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Yes. We had -- there was a pre-K teacher who -- from the migrant ed program at Denali who did a really interesting project with her little ones on just what it is to be a scientist, and how they are scientists because they observe things and make notes about things and tell people about what they saw or felt or heard. Yeah. Pretty neat, actually. KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: So pre-K through 12.

KAREN BREWSTER: All right. So you’ve given some examples of these different projects, and I’m hoping you can maybe give more.

Um, do the teachers come up with those ideas? That they come to the workshops already with a project?

LUISE WOLFLEIN: No, they don’t come to the workshop with a project, and uh, we encourage them not to get distracted by a project. You know, to focus on the change in practice and then -- You know, there was no requirement to also be doing a project.

But often times, they were so excited about implementing this way of learning with the kids that it just sort of happened.

Um, so well, the school yard, the outdoor classrooms, was popular. Uh, let’s see. Um, a -- in Nome, the kindergarteners. I think it was the kindergarteners. It might have been the kindergarteners plus the second graders again. Or third graders?

Anyway, two teachers involved at the same time, joined forces, and they did a project where they -- the kids visited with Elders at the senior center in town and shared stories and did things like that.

Oh, we had another teacher from Unalakleet, actually, I just remembered. She and her students organized a whole tundra exploration day for, I think, the entire lower elementary school.

And they went out on the tundra with activities to do, looking at all -- many of the same activities that the teacher had learned during the iTREC! workshop.

They all then implemented for the students in the lower grades in the elementary school, and everybody went out blueberry picking and identifying colors and doing all sorts of things out on the tundra.

Um, let’s see, at Machetanz, a sixth grade class, fifth or sixth grade class, developed, they -- so when the Machetanz school was built, there was not much in the way -- KAREN BREWSTER: And where is that? LUISE WOLFLEIN: It’s in Wasilla. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Um, and so there wasn’t much in the way of landscaping. So these students developed and planted a gar -- they planted gardens representing different ecosystems in Alaska. So they had kind of like tundra plants. KAREN BREWSTER: Mm-hm.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: I think like a rock garden here, and a wildflower garden there, and like that.

Um, there was -- where Machetanz sits, it’s in a development, and so there’s land being developed for houses across from the school, and then beyond that, below that, is state land.

But there was no access to that land for a very long time. And -- and, but there was a boardwalk put in by, I think the Greatland Trust.

And a kindergarten teacher worked with Greatland Trust and the state, whatever, to develop signage along this walk so that people taking it could learn about native plants. And so, they -- the kids made the signs that then got formalized as the final signs.

And so it, you know, and now I think there’s a way for the kids to get there, um, from the school. I don’t -- I don't know that they’ve solved all the access problems, but anyway, it’s kind of neat that -- KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah. LUISE WOLFLEIN: -- anybody going there learns about plants because of these little kids.

KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah, that’s very cool. I mean, these are just great, fun, creative ideas.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Yeah. Yeah. And so -- Oh, let -- Yeah, at Stellar, a teacher -- oh, her students developed a plant -- like a plant field guide for kids. A kid-level plant field guide.

Another teacher another year developed a universal quest. And so, one of the tools that we teach teachers during the workshops is how to develop a quest, which is like a community treasure hunt.

And this -- And yeah, this teacher developed a community treasure hunt that was universal in the sense that you didn’t have to be in a particular place to do it. It was just about going out and experiencing nature.

And this is what the students came up with as a thing they wanted to do. So I think she did a quest with them at school, and then they liked it so much that they wanted to do one so kids anywhere could -- could do an experience like this.

There -- we have developed a quest for the Campbell Tract, so if you’re interested, you could do that here. A teacher in Seward developed one in Seward.

Uh, yeah. I’m trying to think, uh, a teacher in Seward worked with her students to do landscaping around the school. They did so much work.

And, you know, the kids, in the process of these things, they’re the ones who write the letters to the, you know, lumber supply comp -- company to ask for supplies they need, or the plant source place to ask for donations of plants. So they get the practice writing letters.

They testify in front of community councils. They, you know, work with landscape architects to understand what it is they need to think about when they plan an outdoor classroom. KAREN BREWSTER: Mm-hm.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: You know, they have all these experiences ’cause they’re -- the whole point of it is for them to be in the driver’s seat. KAREN BREWSTER: Right.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: And um, planning and -- and paring down their big ideas.

KAREN BREWSTER: Right. Well, you mentioned the quest as a tool you teach during the workshops. What other types of things are you teaching?

LUISE WOLFLEIN: We teach geocaching. And when we teach geocaching, we teach it as, uh, as earthcaching. We roll that in there, too, so not only are we teaching them how to use GPS units to find things hidden in the land, and that, you know, there is this whole geocaching world out there where people have set up things in the woods and in trails, mountain hikes, whatever, um, but that uh, those types of geocaches are typically something where you leave something, take something, maybe write in a journal that you were here.

But earthcaching, when you find the thing, it is in itself an activity. And so, um, our earthcaches focused on everything from, like, weather, you know, identifying clouds, taking temperature, measuring air temperature, water temperature, to, uh, tracking activities, where maybe we put some things out, and now you’re going to solve a tracking mystery.

Or um, we hid birds, you know, cutouts of birds in the trees, and here’s some binoculars, and now here’s this ID card. Find the birds. Identify what you see based on this cards.

Uh, so yeah, we teach them -- So we’re teaching them how to use the GPS to find things, and then we’re also building up their toolbox of ideas of things they can do with kids outside by having each one be an activity. KAREN BREWSTER: Mm-hm.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Um, we teach them nature journaling, and we do nature journaling with them and give them tools they need so that they can pursue that with their students.

Um, and we also introduce them to inexpensive books, blank books, that they can use to create their nature journals or a number of other thing -- ways they could create inexpensive nature journals with their students.

Let’s see. I mentioned, you know, just there’s a whole bunch of things they can do to get their kids -- to engage with their students when outside. And so, we have a whole, like, section -- we will do -- sample every workshop. We’ll do some different activities to add to their toolbox of things they could do with kids outside. So you know, color matches to, uh, nature art. KAREN BREWSTER: Mm-hm.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Making art using found objects to um -- What else do we do? Uh, using the outdoors to teach vocabulary through egg cartons or ice cube trays with words in them that the kids have to find natural objects that match those adjectives.

Uh, boy, what else? Lots of things. Lots of little activities that are quick and easy, just um, sound maps, uh, sound -- sound ID on fingers, where you just close your eyes, and every time you hear something, it’s a fistful of sound. KAREN BREWSTER: Mm-hm.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: You put up a finger, and then you look at how many did you hear compared to other people in the group. Just tuning in that way.

KAREN BREWSTER: Well, that’s really neat that you’re teaching teachers. Or you’re providing them tools that they can go home and implement with their kids, but you’re having them do it themselves first instead of just -- LUISE WOLFLEIN: Yes. KAREN BREWSTER: -- lecturing at them in a classroom.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Yes. No, we do it. We -- we give them the experience.

There’s a really fun one we do, um, on poetry, where we take them out. We usually use trees. So they have to go to three different trees, and when they get to that tree, just jot down a word or a phrase that embodies that particular tree to them, stick it in an envelope, go to the next tree.

And then afterwards, divide into three groups. Each group gets one envelope full of all the words, and they have to make a poem using all those words. KAREN BREWSTER: Wow.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: And just those words. And then usually, we have them act it out, too. KAREN BREWSTER: Oh.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: And it’s a really powerful and fun way, um, to just observe and record, and remember, ultimately, like, a particular tree.

You know, it just really taps into vocabulary, and we usually have three very different trees. You know, maybe a little young tree, an old tree with no leaves, that are -- you know, they're dead. KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: And then some magnificent specimen in between. You know, or whatever.

But it’s just -- I mean, I’ve done this activity with masters students from the creative writing program.

KAREN BREWSTER: Well, I was going to say, that to me sounds more high school age. The -- all these things you do with the teachers, are you age specific? Are you saying, this is a high school activity, this is a third-grade activity?

LUISE WOLFLEIN: No, we, uh, we do activities that they could do. Most of them have broad application. And then we trust that the teachers will adapt them for the age group that they teach.

So maybe the poetry activity isn’t something that a kindergarten teacher is going to do, or maybe they’re going to modify it by bringing in three different flowers and have the kids talk about -- KAREN BREWSTER: Right. LUISE WOLFLEIN: Each one, or something.

You know, and then they just group create a poem about that flower. Um, or something else, you know. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Yeah. Then the teachers, yeah, they adapt what they’re doing.

We do a thing with all the teachers at the start of -- of -- in -- during the summer workshop, where we have them talk about the things that they want their students to know. The head, the heart to feel, and the hands to do.

Um, and teachers have picked that up as an exercise that they do with their students to reflect. And um, one teacher even got somewhere online little squishy, like stress relievers.

There was a heart, and a hand, and a head. Which was -- You know, and they could pass these around. And when they got the heart, they could talk about something they felt. You know, so they had -- yeah. Teachers are very good at adapting things.

KAREN BREWSTER: Yes. And -- There’s amazing teachers out there who work very hard. Um, so over the years of this iTREC!, what do you feel are some of its successes?

LUISE WOLFLEIN: The projects teachers have implemented are themselves successes. The -- I think, the -- and -- and the experiences these teachers have given their students and the -- the empowerment that the teachers have given their students, like that is so -- I mean, that’s just -- it’s an awesome thing that this program has achieved.

The energy that this program has given to teachers to change what they’re teaching or how they’re -- change how they’re teaching, has been really, um, as -- as a person helping implement it, it’s been really meaningful.

I mean, to have teachers tell you that -- and year after year, have teachers tell you that they have completely changed the way they teach.

They are amazed at the impact this has had on their students. The engagement that they have gotten from their students.

The connection -- the ways in which they feel connected to community like they’ve never had before. Just all of that.

To hear it from the teachers has been so meaningful. Like, it’s just -- And knowing that, uh, you know, we’re -- we are having the effect on teachers and students that we set out to have. You know, to see that success is just -- Yeah, it’s great. It’s great.

KAREN BREWSTER: Well yeah, that was my next question is, what has it meant to you to be involved in this program? You kind of already said it, but --

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Yeah. Um, it’s been really wonderful to work with teachers through a school year, and watch them grow and change and -- and -- and hear how their students are engaged in ways that they’ve never been engaged with before. Um, yeah, just ways they’ve never been engaged before.

Um, to see the things that they do with their students is -- it’s like, it’s humbling. It is amazing what they do. It is just amazing. KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Um, yeah. I’ve been so honored to work with the teachers in the iTREC! program. And yeah. I’ve given you a bunch of examples. KAREN BREWSTER: Right.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: But it’s -- you know, there are so many more. You know, and these -- the -- the commitment of these teachers to their students, to their communities, to, um, yeah.

And to know that we helped inspire and maybe helped make it easier for them to achieve these things is just really special.

KAREN BREWSTER: And you do other things on your job besides just the iTREC! program, right? LUISE WOLFLEIN: Oh, yes. Most of my time is doing other things.

KAREN BREWSTER: And so, what are the other things you do? I mean, you gave me your job title, but what does that -- what do you do?

LUISE WOLFLEIN: So the science center has -- we offer programs to the public. Everything from free lecture series to paid art classes, nature walks, um, special events.

We do programming for kids outside of school. We have a junior ranger program for kids ages five to ten.

We have a program for the very youngest, children under five, the zero to five group and their parents or caregivers.

We do special events, like an International Archeology Day open house-style event every fall. An Iditarod Ceremonial Start event.

The Iditarod Ceremonial Start ends on this land here. KAREN BREWSTER: Oh, ok. LUISE WOLFLEIN: And so, we help interpret trail history, race -- We interpret the race and trail history for the public that comes. Um, so I oversee all of that.

And in addition, the Campbell Creek Science Center supports education and outreach at all the other BLM offices in the state of Alaska, and so I coordinate that, as well.

So we -- what support looks like for any office varies from office to office, but um, we send people to events in which other BLM offices are participating to help provide, you know, activity stations for what’s going on.

We send people to lead interpretive walks some places. It varies from year to year, too. KAREN BREWSTER: Mm-hm.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: We help people develop slide programs, or we find out what topics they wish the public to know about, and then we line up speakers.

We’re sharing it here in Anchorage, but -- or we do virtual programs, and we get it out to an audience that has included people from multiple foreign countries. It just depends. Um, yeah.

KAREN BREWSTER: So how much of your time do you think you devote to the iTREC! program?

LUISE WOLFLEIN: It’s -- yeah. So it’s hard to answer that because, you know, there will be, like a week in the summer or, you know, when it’s getting a hundred percent of my attention for a short period of time, and then, um, yeah.

And we haven’t had a class of teachers in the traditional way for a while. During COVID, we did it virtually, and we offered virtual workshops.

We broke the subject matter down into individual programs, and then we, um, some tea -- there were a few teachers who had, like, attended all of them or most of them, and then there were others who came and went to particular ones of interest. So that -- Yeah. It’s really hard to answer that question.

KAREN BREWSTER: Well, I can understand, you know, that week of the summer workshop that’s devoted -- Do you help teach all the workshops and plan them and find the speakers and organize them? Or you just show up in the summer and do a workshop?

LUISE WOLFLEIN: So no, with the team -- um, the team has been Judy, and Annette, and Delia, and myself. Uh, and then for several years we had one of our instructor staff here also on the team, helping to plan.

And there’s frequently been an instructor person part of the planning team. There had been another staffer who for several years was part of the team, and then she left the science center. And then this other instructor took over, and she actually did her masters work on iTREC!

KAREN BREWSTER: Who’s that? LUISE WOLFLEIN: Hannah Brewster. KAREN BREWSTER: Oh, ok.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Uh, yeah. So -- so there’s the planning time. Then there’s the implementation time.

Most of the teaching in the workshops is done by the facilitator, Delia Clark. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. LUISE WOLFLEIN: Annette and I and Judy, depending, would do little pieces.

Um, and then -- so yeah, I don’t know, in a year -- In a year of full-on iTREC!, it’s maybe five percent.

KAREN BREWSTER: Well, I know -- I was more thinking what you just said is what tasks you do. LUISE WOLFLEIN: Yeah. KAREN BREWSTER: During the year for it.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: And then when the teachers are developing curriculum, that piece of it, we -- we review it. We usually break it up amongst the team so that we’re each reviewing, maybe five teachers or something. KAREN BREWSTER: Right.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: You know, there’s some over -- so they’re getting -- the teachers are getting input from multiple people, but each of us doesn’t necessarily have to read all the things. KAREN BREWSTER: Mm-hm.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: And then, we meet with them on -- we have phone calls with each teacher during the year to see how things are going, help on an individual level.

And we try -- I think between Annette, Delia, and I, we’re always trying, we want the three of us to be there, but sometimes only two of three are able to, just on scheduling.

So, but that’s another piece of the support that we give to teachers. KAREN BREWSTER: Right. LUISE WOLFLEIN: And we do that twice, um, yeah.

KAREN BREWSTER: So, you know, all of those that -- you know, that’s a lot of things to do, mixed in with another -- LUISE WOLFLEIN: Right. KAREN BREWSTER: All your other job duties. LUISE WOLFLEIN: Right. Right. KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Yeah. And it’s been less recently, because we haven’t had a cohort of teachers go through. Since COVID, we haven’t had that. KAREN BREWSTER: Mm-hm.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Um, we had a -- we did a summer workshop. It was just short, two days, I think. Two or three days. Yeah, and then we’ve done the virtual things.

And yeah, but that’s how it shakes out sometimes. We are dividing up who’s reaching out to who for partner, for a partner, you know, that section of it.

And when we were doing virtual programs, like, working -- we had a couple outside speakers. So like I worked with Kevin for his history piece for that. KAREN BREWSTER: Mm-hm.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: And I think Delia, maybe, worked with a person, a professor, to do the reflection piece. You know, so we divide the work up that way.

KAREN BREWSTER: And so, Delia -- you said Delia Clark? LUISE WOLFLEIN: Mm-hm. KAREN BREWSTER: And what’s her job?

LUISE WOLFLEIN: She is an independent consultant based in Vermont who does place-based service learning workshops everywhere. She also does other types of community engagement consulting.

Um, I think she helps, like -- I mean she can tell you. You’ll be talking to her, I would assume. KAREN BREWSTER: Well, I -- I -- LUISE WOLFLEIN: I would hope. KAREN BREWSTER: It’s a -- a new name to me. LUISE WOLFLEIN: Oh. KAREN BREWSTER: So that’s why I was asking.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Yeah, um, she does this work, you know, as well as like, um, community engagement planning for parks and things like that.

KAREN BREWSTER: But so, she’s been sort of the lead -- LUISE WOLFLEIN: Instructor. KAREN BREWSTER: Lead instructor. LUISE WOLFLEIN: Yes. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: And she’s also -- she’s the facilitator instructor, and she was -- she does the same thing for Appalachian Trail to Every Classroom. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. LUISE WOLFLEIN: Yeah. KAREN BREWSTER: All right.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: So she’s been doing this work for a long time. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. LUISE WOLFLEIN: Mm-hm.

KAREN BREWSTER: Um, you’ve talked about all the great successes and everything, but there must have been challenges along the way. LUISE WOLFLEIN: Um, sure. KAREN BREWSTER: Or obstacles?

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Um, you know, there’ve been teachers who needed more encouragement and help than others. You know, they’ve had trouble fully understanding what place-based service learning is and how they could apply it.

Like, there’s just -- sometimes it’s harder for some people to like really get it. And so, uh, you know, we’ve had to give extra help. We’ve had teachers who had to drop out, like I mentioned. KAREN BREWSTER: Mm-hm.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Um, just things -- They were going to be teaching this, and suddenly one teacher was teaching this and this and becoming the middle school basketball coach. Couldn’t also do this program as a first-year teacher. KAREN BREWSTER: Right.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: And then another teacher who was teaching this, and then got added this to her plate, so, you know -- So we’ve had teachers who’ve had to drop out, um, which was disappointing because we’d already invested in them coming to the summer workshop.

And also, we lost -- You know, it’s great for all the teachers to be connected to somebody in another school, and a different place on the trail. So they all lost that. We all lost that.

Um, there’ve been budget things. Um, just yeah, working with budgets. Um, I think those are the biggest things.

We’ve had weather that’s changed what -- changed up what we’ve done, where we’ve done things. Uh, I think there was one year where we couldn’t go out on the ice for the ending ceremony. You know, it’s just a little thing. KAREN BREWSTER: Right.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: But we, you know, adjusted in the moment, and it worked out just fine.

KAREN BREWSTER: Well, and I was thinking, if you’re teaching teachers how to do outdoor activities with kids -- LUISE WOLFLEIN: Mm-hm. KAREN BREWSTER: -- you learn that the weather’s a factor, and you might have to -- LUISE WOLFLEIN: Right.

KAREN BREWSTER: You know, everybody put their rain gear on, or we’re not going out today, we’re going to -- LUISE WOLFLEIN: Right. KAREN BREWSTER: -- do something else.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Oh, and that -- I didn’t bring it up, which is kind of funny since I’m usually the one avoiding (?) it, but we always take the teachers snowshoeing in Nome, and uh -- uh -- Yeah, we’ve had some weather things affect where we were going snowshoeing on more than one occasion. It’s been, you know, we’ve had some very varied weather conditions there.

Um, one thing that, like, I don’t think has come up in this conversation, really, is the importance for us of the partners we’ve worked with to implement it. I’ve mentioned the Park Service in Seward that provided meeting space for multiple years.

And in Nome, the same thing. Just, they let us use their little conference room for the workshop. And one year, one of their staff came with us on the snowshoe.

Um, that sort of support has just been really important to the success of the program. And in the case of Nome, it also -- because we’ve gone there for so many years, and the education coordinator there has been the same person for a long time.

The Alliance, and the BLM, and the Park Service were able to partner to do a professional development workshop on place-based service learning for teachers in the Bering Straits and Nome School Districts at Serpentine Hot Springs. KAREN BREWSTER: Nice.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Which was pretty awesome. And then, yeah.

KAREN BREWSTER: So that wasn’t part of iTREC!? That was their own separate thing?

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Correct. But um, Judy was there and was able to give history about, um, the -- I think she did trails. She’d be able to tell you more. KAREN BREWSTER: Right.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: But um, also just about, like, historic trails and how the whole process of getting things designated works.

KAREN BREWSTER: Mm-hm. Well, yeah, it was sort of an off-shoot. They were inspired by iTREC! and sort of did their own thing? LUISE WOLFLEIN: Mm-hm.

And it was good for iTREC! because, you know, the um, those school districts are tied to the trail. KAREN BREWSTER: Right. LUISE WOLFLEIN: So they could hear some trail history and everything.

And it gave us an entrée, which we hoped would have deeper payoffs, to teachers from other schools in the school district. Like we had some teachers from Shishmaref. KAREN BREWSTER: Mm.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: It was pretty fun to have involved. That was right before COVID, so that’s why I say it didn’t quite have the payoff. KAREN BREWSTER: Right. LUISE WOLFLEIN: Because everything then got shut down.

KAREN BREWSTER: Well, certainly one of the challenges was COVID. LUISE WOLFLEIN: Yeah. KAREN BREWSTER: And you guys pivoted. LUISE WOLFLEIN: We did. We pivoted to virtual, delivering it virtually.

KAREN BREWSTER: But it hasn’t come back? The interest isn't -- I mean --

LUISE WOLFLEIN: No, we did a session at the, uh, Anchorage School District Summer Academy in 2022, which was -- We did a -- a hybrid of virtual and asynchronous learning. So we had some time where we all joined virtually together, and then we sent them off and gave them a whole bunch of things to look at. And tasks to do.

So uh, so that happened. Um, and that was quite successful. I think we had fifteen -- I think we had seventeen people register and fifteen come. So that was a good turnout for that.

But we haven’t -- when we did it again last year, uh, nobody signed up. And I think it was because of that shift in -- KAREN BREWSTER: Right. So -- LUISE WOLFLEIN: -- um, what teachers are required to do.

KAREN BREWSTER: So this year, do you have an iTREC! program going on?

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Uh, no. We opted -- we opted not to do a work -- we had talked about -- we had init -- At one point, we had thought we might offer another workshop for the academy.

And just, if you don’t know, the Anchorage School District Summer Academy is open to all teachers in the state, and so they do get teachers from other parts of the state attending. Anyway, um, we decided not to offer one this -- this summer.

And what we are trying to do is get on the -- We’re trying to get -- offer place-based service learning to particular school districts as part of their regular professional development.

But, we haven’t put a tremendous amount of energy into that. Recruiting, you know. I did an initial reach-out, and I haven’t followed up, so I don’t know. And we were planning for next school year, because we think they plan that far ahead.

KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah. I was going to say, what’s the future of the iTREC! program? Do you think it’ll - you’ll still be getting students for workshops, or you’re just shifting to this new district-wide initiative?

LUISE WOLFLEIN: I think we are trying to figure out what’s next. Uh, a student in -- Well, an intern with the Forest Service put together a -- basically a curriculum for teachers so that they could understand place-based service learning in an iTREC! context independently.

And so, that’s in the works. It’s in the design phase. So that will be coming out eventually.

Um, we -- the group -- Well, the Forest Service, Alliance, and BLM -- Annette, Judy, and I, did a -- like a junior ranger booklet. KAREN BREWSTER: Mm-hm. LUISE WOLFLEIN: It’s called -- It’s the Iditarod Junior Trail Blazer booklet to tie into the Trail Blazer. KAREN BREWSTER: Mm-hm.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Um, effort tied to the trail. So we did that, and that’s been very successful. Um, yeah.

And then, you know, I don’t know if -- if we could get -- if we could get it as professional development training that we do for, you know, the Kenai Borough School District and the Iditarod Area School District and the Bering Strait School District, like, that would be great.

You know, do it in the communities along the trail. KAREN BREWSTER: Mm-hm. LUISE WOLFLEIN: But um, yeah, I think we’re still trying to figure out what’s next.

KAREN BREWSTER: And with people like you retiring. LUISE WOLFLEIN: Yes. True. Uh, but Annette, Judy, and Delia are still there. KAREN BREWSTER: Mm-hm.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: And I think somebody from here will pick up the reins for the science center.

KAREN BREWSTER: Ok. Well, I noticed that you have here on the table this massive binder that says, "Iditarod Trail to Every Classroom." Uh -- LUISE WOLFLEIN: Yes. KAREN BREWSTER: What’s -- what’s that all about?

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Oh, I just brought it with me. Um, just because, I don’t know, in case it was handy for conversation.

KAREN BREWSTER: In case for reference you needed to check something?

LUISE WOLFLEIN: So every year, um -- Every summer workshop, we would give teachers a binder of this size. Not quite this full.

And I actually have a separate one that’s -- you can see this is Lib Program Binder. KAREN BREWSTER: Mm-hm. LUISE WOLFLEIN: The other one is Teacher Binder. So just -- it’s handy year to year to know what we gave them.

And then, this one was more for me where I kept, like, agendas for various years. It was just handy to have them all together. KAREN BREWSTER: Mm-hm.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Um, remember what handouts we gave them different years in case we want to recycle something. Um, and so, what we’ve given them has changed from year to year. KAREN BREWSTER: Mm-hm.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Um, but I just kept things all in one place for myself. And I brought it just in case, yeah.

KAREN BREWSTER: No, it’s a -- it's a great record of all the work that’s been done.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Yeah, it’s um -- It’s not the most organized thing, but it does -- Oh, I mentioned, you know, that we have made a flyer to recruit teachers. KAREN BREWSTER: Mm-hm. LUISE WOLFLEIN: So here we go.

KAREN BREWSTER: These are some of examples.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: It goes over -- When we advertised, we would be able to tell teachers, like that there were three workshops and the dates of those three workshops. So they would know, would it fit with their academic calendar.

When they got their principal’s sign-off, their letter of support, they would know when the teacher would be gone. KAREN BREWSTER: Mm-hm.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: So anyway, here’s some teachers acting out their tree poem. So anyway.

KAREN BREWSTER: So do you guys do a newsletter for the -- for iTREC! for the teachers? Or these are just -- LUISE WOLFLEIN: No. KAREN BREWSTER: Oh, they’re just the flyers?

LUISE WOLFLEIN: This was a flyer. And this, I think is, I don’t know what this is. This is a -- KAREN BREWSTER: Looks like a brochure.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Yes, this is a brochure, just about the program itself. All the -- some of the successes. KAREN BREWSTER: Mm-hm.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: And some of the things the teachers have done, and yeah. Results. What we’ve accomplished. Uh, yeah. So um. Yeah.

And you made me think of something when you asked that question. KAREN BREWSTER: Newsletter.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Yeah. Oh, we did -- To keep the teachers connected during a year plus year-to-year, and to keep -- really to keep that connection going beyond what the year that they participated, we do have a Facebook group. KAREN BREWSTER: Mm. LUISE WOLFLEIN: It’s a closed group, just for teachers who have been in the program.

And it’s a way -- You know, teachers may ask, "Oh, I’m doing this thing. Has anybody done something like this before? Do you have suggestions?" Or we can share, um, hey, there’s a talk coming up on the Iditarod Trail, or whatever. KAREN BREWSTER: Mm-hm. LUISE WOLFLEIN: That you might want to -- hey, the Junior Trail Blazer booklet’s coming out. You know, things like that to just keep them engaged.

So we do have a Facebook group, and that’s worked pretty well, I guess. Yeah.

KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah. Sounds like a good way to get people connected. LUISE WOLFLEIN: Mm-hm. And to keep them across years.

We did also do an alumni workshop one year. We took a break from, uh -- We took a break from doing a cohort every year, and invited alumni to come back and learn some new things and reconnect with ideas of place-based service learning. And share what they’ve been up to. And so, that was fun. KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: We did it down at the um -- at Portage. We used the Forest Service facility there for the classroom part.

KAREN BREWSTER: How many alumni participated? LUISE WOLFLEIN: I don’t exactly remember. I think it was around twelve or fifteen. KAREN BREWSTER: That seems pretty good.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: It was a nice group, and it was -- Yeah, they had things to share that were fun to hear.

KAREN BREWSTER: And it was -- That makes me think about the teachers who’ve gone through this one-year workshops, and they do a project, do they keep doing these kinds of projects in following years with students?

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Um, some do. Like the teachers in Girdwood who did the bear aware with their students each year. Other teachers, like the ones who have created outdoor classrooms, I think then they’ve used them. Um, yeah. And I -- I don’t really know what they’ve continued.

KAREN BREWSTER: Or if they do a new project? They don’t necessarily do the same project every year like they did in Girdwood, but do they do a new place-based service project with their next year’s classes? LUISE WOLFLEIN: Oh --

KAREN BREWSTER: I was going to say, it sort of inspired their shift in methods.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Right, so I think, like um -- I think, like teachers, like once they’ve made their outdoor classroom, then they use their outdoor classroom, but they don’t have to make a new one. KAREN BREWSTER: Right.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Um, and I think, like, the teachers at Machetanz have done things year -- like, expanded year after year. So that I think that the grounds there are very different now because of the year after year doing something else there. KAREN BREWSTER: Mm-hm.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Um, I’m trying to think of examples of teachers who have, uh, done new, different things.

I mean, some people have built upon what they started with one year. Then they build on it with kids the next year, and then take it further the year after that. KAREN BREWSTER: Right.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: We’ve also had alumni come -- So the very first workshop, an alum of the Appalachian Trail to Every Classroom came and talked about what she had done with her students.

Subsequent to that each year, we’ve had iTREC! alum come to the teacher workshop and share what they’ve done with their students. So that’s just brought it, like, right home to Alaska. KAREN BREWSTER: Mm-hm.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Um, so I’m having -- Yeah, I can’t -- Um, things aren’t jumping to mind. KAREN BREWSTER: Right. LUISE WOLFLEIN: But perhaps Annette -- KAREN BREWSTER: Well, what -- LUISE WOLFLEIN: -- will have other examples -- KAREN BREWSTER: Well, what you said about -- LUISE WOLFLEIN: -- of things they’ve done.

KAREN BREWSTER: What you said about building from one -- you know, we start this and the next year we do another component, we build on that, helps answer the question. LUISE WOLFLEIN: Mm-hm. Yeah.

KAREN BREWSTER: Um, the other thing I was wondering about whether it was a challenge, or how you’ve handled all this, was the communication from -- within the team? I mean, you’re different agencies, and everybody’s busy, and how that’s worked or not worked?

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Uh, I think we’re a really high functioning team. We -- we get along well anyway. Uh, we’re all connected through email, and we do most of our communication through email.

Uh, our meetings -- we’ve done a lot of meetings, you know, and calls and things. Um, especially with one person in Vermont. KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Uh, yeah. All of our things, I think, have been by phone or Teams meetings or whatever.

We -- yeah, we -- When I say we’re a high-functioning team, like, we kind of put out there what -- we talk through what needs to happen, and then different people will take different pieces.

Or somebody who typically does this can’t on the timeline, and somebody else will say, well, I could take that, and so, you know, we -- we just work well together -- KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah. LUISE WOLFLEIN: -- to get it done.

KAREN BREWSTER: Because there is a lot of moving parts in the planning and -- LUISE WOLFLEIN: Mm-hm. KAREN BREWSTER: -- organizing all of that.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Yeah, and Annette is a wizard of keeping track of everything.

KAREN BREWSTER: Well, it sounds like you each have your skillset, and you -- you bring those to the table.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Yeah, Judy organizes all the logistical stuff in terms of travel and food and the lodging and on and on.

And um, Annette does a really good job of keeping track of teachers, and -- KAREN BREWSTER: So what -- LUISE WOLFLEIN: -- and kind of just what is needed to be done. So then I know what I can do.

KAREN BREWSTER: I was going to say, and so what has been your contribution?

LUISE WOLFLEIN: So I have -- so I, um, usually do -- Well, I do the -- organize the geocaching, um. The geocaching activities, the snowshoeing activities, the how to be outside with students safely part.

I’ve done the working with the media section for them. That’s another thing I didn’t mention, but I do that.

Um, and then I share stories of, um, like a color commentator sometimes for sharing stories of things teachers have done.

I integrated examples of things that teachers have done in Alaska to an activity that we do just on the range of things teachers have done across the country.

Um, lots of input for teachers on their unit development, you know, the things that they’re developing. KAREN BREWSTER: Right. LUISE WOLFLEIN: A lot of question-answering and --

KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah, it seems like you’re very connected with the teacher/school community in Anchorage, Mat-Su area.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Well, um, the teachers who are in this pro -- in the program. Connected to them. We see lots of kids here. KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah. LUISE WOLFLEIN: From mostly schools in Anchorage, but some outside. Um, yeah. But the two aren’t necessarily the same. KAREN BREWSTER: Oh, ok.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Although we have had iTREC! teachers who’d never been here before come after being in the program, which is kind of fun, too.

KAREN BREWSTER: That’s cool. And so, yeah, this working with the media, that’s for their service projects, on how to get the media to pay attention to their community projects?

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Yeah, or to tell them about it after they’re done. KAREN BREWSTER: Right. LUISE WOLFLEIN: So that the media will say something about it. KAREN BREWSTER: Right. LUISE WOLFLEIN: Raise the profile. KAREN BREWSTER: Right. LUISE WOLFLEIN: Mm-hm.

KAREN BREWSTER: One other way to connect the communities. LUISE WOLFLEIN: Right. KAREN BREWSTER: People know what you’re doing.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Mm-hm, and recognize the partners you had that help make it happen. Um, yeah.

And some things, you know, maybe are for the benefit of the community, you know, at large. Or some things may be like, oh, we have this cool thing at the school now that we never had before. You should come see it.

KAREN BREWSTER: Well, and it also gives -- the kids who have contributed get credit. LUISE WOLFLEIN: And they get their recognition. KAREN BREWSTER: And they like to have that. LUISE WOLFLEIN: Affirmation. KAREN BREWSTER: Right. Good. LUISE WOLFLEIN: Yeah.

KAREN BREWSTER: Well, I really appreciate your time today. I know you’re super busy. And I’m sure trying to wrap everything up with retiring soon, as well.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: Yes. So sorry I’ve given you more names of people to contact. KAREN BREWSTER: No, no. That’s fine. Um, so I just, you know, is there anything else that has come to your mind? LUISE WOLFLEIN: Uh, I don’t think so. KAREN BREWSTER: Ok.

LUISE WOLFLEIN: We’ve covered a lot of ground. KAREN BREWSTER: Yeah, we have. Ok. I’m going to turn this off. Thank you.