Teri Rogoway
State Coordinator for California
Coordinator of Interpretive Programs
Santa Clara County Open Space Authority
San Jose, CA
(408) 224-7476 x16
trogoway@openspaceauthority.org
I am the Coordinator of Interpretive Services with the Santa Clara County Open Space Authority in California. We buy land and preserve it as open space for wildlife and aesthetics. I have created the interpretive program from the ground-up for the Authority. I have a BA in Environmental Studies, and a MA in Park Interpretation for Special Needs. I have worked for CA state parks, county parks, and City Parks.
Sep
3
Title: Leopold Meets the Happy Hollow Zoo
Location: Happy Hollow Park and Zoo, San Jose, CA
Link out: Click here
Description: This educators workshop is teaming up with the Happy Hollow Park and Zoo to join forces to learn about Leopold’s Land ethic. Join us for a day in the zoo, learning these activities followed by a day in the Rancho Canada del Oro Open Space Preserve. Special Needs Welcome!
This is a ONE TIME DEAL event: You may bring 3 people for the price of ONE if you are willing to share the resources. (In this tough economic time, OSA is looking to help interested folks get trained in the Leopold Education Project. Grab two buddies, split the $35 charge and share your books and you can join us for this training. Getting the message out is the most important part!) Hurry, spaces are filling fast. This deal is restricted to 1 group per agency/organization, unless we have space left over.
Call Teri Rogoway at (408) 224-7476 to reserve your space now. (If you want your own books and can pay the $35, let me know and I will order them for you.)
Start Date: 2010-11-6
Start Time: 10:00
End Date: 2010-11-7
End Time: 15:00
Posted in Activities for Educators, Education, LEP Events, LEP News, No Child Left Indoors, Outdoor Adventures, Teaching Resources, Upcoming Events | 1 Comment »
Jul
13
This past weekend was a new moon. Here at Open Space in California, I took out our trusty telescope and went out to one of the darkest parks we have, Rancho Canada del Oro Open Space Preserve. I wasn’t expecting all that many people to come to this stargazing evening, because in the grand scheme of silicon valley, Rancho seems very remote. (It’s probably 15 miles from the nearest starbucks and down a winding country road that frankly, we seldom see in the Bay Area.) And we are asking people who are not used to it, to drive down a road like that in the dark… a moment like something out of a horror film for sure. Especially when the suicidal peacocks drop startled out of the trees and land with a thud right in front of your car. FOOMPT goes the tail and the attitude the size of the Grand Canyon and it walks slowly off the road as if to say… “I meant to do that!” If it were a cat it would be licking itself nonchalantly.
I drove out to the preserve and as the sun was going down, I set up my Dobson telescope. It looks kind of like a black cannon, but more easily maneuverable (if that’s a word). In other words, it’s a lighter kind of cannon looking thing that you can wrap your arms around and point in the direction you want to look. No electronic parts. Very user friendly and easy to set up. I set it up and I waited. And low and behold as the sun faded they started to come. The general public. My people!!!
Right away I was grateful for the mobile planetarium I have: it’s a hand held box-like thing that you point at a star, push a button, and it tells you what you are looking at. If you need to learn astronomy fast, I definitely recommend this Sky Scout. I was barraged with “what’s this?” and “What’s that!” And with a sigh of relief one of the “what’s that?!?!” turned out to be a family of deer who jumped the barbed wire fence and were grazing in the meadow near the parking lot. The next thrill came when the bats came out. They were swooping past people. I explained that mosquitoes are attracted to the CO2 in our breath and the bats are after the bugs. Kind of like you breathing and cheeseburger suddenly floats your way and your buddy swoops by and grabs it with his mouth. I mean come on… who can resist a floating cheeseburger?
The best moment of the night came when a little 7 year old boy on his first stargazing expedition squealed with such shrill and intense excitement half the adults bolted upright at once. The panic ended when we heard “Mommy! Mommy! LOOOOK!”
He had accidentally found Saturn and was gazing at the rings for the very first time. And having access to an easy to move telescope and especially having permission to try and find anything to his heart’s content… had sealed the deal. This kid was hooked.
For the rest of the night it was EEEEE and OOOOO and OH WOW!!! His enthusiasm was infectious and the way it encouraged all of us to find more in the night sky was the very reason I do this job. That excitement is my candy.
I definitely encourage everyone to find ways to let people, especially kids, touch, play with, and control their experiential environment. In other words… try to strive for as few “please don’t touch that” and “Be careful with that” as you can. Allowing the freedom to explore makes room for these really awesome moments. And it restores your soul. because no matter how tired you may be of paperwork, or worn out from a week of camps or busy visitors… that moment… that squeal of delight… that refills your cup in the best way possible. Give yourself permission to share those moments.
Tags: california, freedom to explore, kids, stars stargazing
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Jun
29
The last few days have been hot enough in California to wipe the memory of spring from our thoughts. I know… everyone in the midwest probably thinks .. “boo hoo” because we in Coastal California complain over temperatures in the 90′s with a relative low humidity while others swelter in 100% with mosquitoes the size of birds. We don’t have mosquitoes the size of birds… but unlike other places, here, just a bit inland… everything turns brown and golden and basically dies. It looks pretty from a distance but if you were to walk in those golden hills you would very quickly find yourself parched, with foxtails and burs in your socks… thinking of escaping over the hill to the beach in Santa Cruz.
But what were we when it was beautiful? When it was alive in the midst of spring?
In the midst of April past we had a beautiful place called Coyote Ridge. When you drive by, you see strange splashes of color out of the corner of your eyes but it is so far away in the hills that it doesn’t really register as wildflowers. Those who take the time to explore, or who get dragged kicking and screaming away from their silicon valley computers and AC by nature enthusiast friends, find out that those splashes of color can look like a scene from the Wizard of Oz close up. That in fact, for a few months of each year, barely two months, those hillsides along highway 101 turn into an explosion of wildflowers. Not only that, but the endangered Bay Checkerspot Butterflies awaken and take the time to fly about and find mates. To go there any other time of year would be to hope to see some hawk, or a coyote cruising for squirrels in the seemingly barren, dry hillsides… but in spring… in spring it awakens with breathtaking splendor. I recommend putting us on your calendar for next year. If you get a chance to come explore Open Space, we whole-heartedly invite you to come help us teach people about nature by enticing them into the outdoors.
Courtesy of Cait Hutnik
Tags: wildflowers
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Jun
28
I was at an event this weekend in a lower income area, with a fantastic ethnic diversity. Open Space had our own booth. Our stealth ideas for sucking folks into a nature education experience seem to be working. We made a game spinner, like you’d see in Vegas. Although there are no blinky lights, the sound of the clicking wheel seems to automatically call the adults like an ice cream truck calls children. Overheated, sun drenched drones wander toward the table and say “Johnny, play this game” while they sit in our shade on our conveniently provided chairs. Their kids spin the wheel, it lands on an animal, and then we ask a question. (Where does it live? What do the babies look like? What does it eat?) All the questions and answers are in the form of a picture, so you don’t need to be able to speak English to play. You can just point. The rule is… if they get it wrong, you discuss with them until they actually get it right… allowing for unlimited answers, all the while coaxing and smiling and having a fun, non-embarrassing, non-stressful experience related to nature. And when it’s over, they win a prize! They get to choose a book mark with educational info on it, our very own playing cards, home made stickers, buttons or the ever popular Plastic bug. Most children choose the bug that looks most real. And when you ask why, they say, because they want to hide it in their mother’s bed. So see? Some things are darn near instinctual for kids and nature. And sometimes you really can suck them in by stealth. Pied Piper for the parents… (smiling in the sunshine). 
Tags: ESL, festivals, games, ideas, nature
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Jun
23
One of the best things about nature is that it reminds us that everything is cyclical. If there seems to be more than your fair share of loss these days, it helps to go outside, watch the natural world and remember that just as things fade and pass on, they are also renewed.
I recently lost a friend to a long battle with several health concerns. His memorial will be held outdoors, in his yard, surrounded by the nature he loved so much. he spent more time outside, involved with the critters and plants than anyone I have every known… and all in an urban environment! If there was one turtle in the middle of all of suburbia… it would find its way to this guy’s back yard. He used to remind me of Aldo, watching his world, from his yard, the glowing ember of a cigarette in his mouth (instead of the pipe), the hair combed back, and his hands constantly in the soil around his home, gently coaxing beauty and life from the earth.
Cycles. I imagine there will always be people like that around… people like us… who are connected, who love the earth, and who understand her ebb and flow.
Tags: aldo, cycles, loss, nature, renewal
Posted in LEP News | 1 Comment »