Wolftree Challenge scores a bulls-eye

Fifty-two people, including several children and parents, pulled in to the Whychus Creek Discovery Outpost (WCDO) last Saturday to begin the Wolftree Challenge fundraiser.

Teams from as far away as Eugene and La Pine arrived just as the volunteer challenge monitors left to set up sites around Sisters Country.

After the Wolftree staff gave out provision packs, lunches, water bottles and final instructions, seven teams with names such as "La Pioneers," "Frog Jumpers," "Team Platypus" and "The Environmental Wackos," took off on a six-hour quest involving forestry, watershed science, geology and plant, animal and bird identification.

Suzie Lewis, one of the challenge volunteers, was stationed at Sisters Creekside Park, helping participants doing their creek analysis. She looked up as she heard the sound of two young girls as they came running up to the Whychus Creek site where she was stationed.

"All I could see was their mile-wide smiles, dimples, and enthusiasm bursting at every seam," Lewis said, "then they introduced themselves: 'Hi, we're The Platypuses!' And their dads said, 'Sing your song.' And that they did! It was the cutest thing I have ever witnessed! And just as quick, they ran off to collect their data on Whychus."

The challenge was the idea of Wolftree board chair Janet Zuelke and her daughter.

"We were sitting around about four years ago brainstorming ways to generate resources for Wolftree and how to connect the community to what Wolftree does with kids in natural history conservation, and the challenge idea surfaced," said Zuelke. "Saturday, a lot of energetic people brought it to life."

The teams were scored on a variety of criteria, which included correct answers, creativity, teamwork, and "outside-the-box thinking." Every team kept a field journal to record data and observations. Some teams wrote limericks, some wrote haiku, while another created a song and dance. A few teams collected trash, without being asked, and deposited it in recycling and landfill cans.

Karen Kassy of Sisters was one of the challenge volunteer judges.

"I loved seeing adults and children get tangibly involved with science and our environment," she said. "I was taken aback with delight and awe in seeing the variety of ways each creatively expressed what they observed and learned - and how much fun they seemed to have doing it."

At the end of the day, the teams, volunteers, staff and supporters joined in a dinner and award ceremony at Brand 33 Restaurant at Aspen Lakes. Dale Waddell made an impromptu presentation to two young members of Team Platypus.

Dale Wadell, executive director of Wolftree, was pleased with the entire challenge event.

"My goal with the Wolftree Challenge was to get people outside for the day, learning about forests, streams, and wildlife and the science that connects them," he said. "I saw families working together as teams, making sure everyone understood how to use the tools and then strategizing among themselves to figure out how to get the job done. Beyond that, I saw siblings teaching siblings and cousins teaching cousins. There were even cases where one family was teaching another family."

The winner of the challenge was Team Alaska & The Howling Hyenas. The team was presented with binoculars and journals for their hard work. Second- and third-place teams were The Flying Nutria, and Team Raven and the Dogs.

This day was about science but the good-natured ribbing and flash talking at the awards ceremony indicated that it was much more than that. It was also about teamwork among families and between teams. One pair of dads watched in wonder as their daughters discovered the art of coring a tree at the forestry site. A mom stepped aside to allow her son to guide the entire team into the creek with waders on, nets in hand to uncover the secrets of aquatic species.

The financial part of the fundraising portion of the challenge was also a complete success, with many Sisters supporters at the auction.

The challenge took many volunteer and staff hours. The payoff was huge for Zuelke though.

"When a parent comes to you at the end of the six-hour adventure with a weary but smiling child and thanks you for igniting a spark for science inside their kid, and when the volunteers beg you to call them next year ... that's priceless! As the comment in Team Raven and the Dogs field notebook testified, 'This was the most cool day I have ever had!'"