Hendricks Park Ecology Program
Since 2005, Walama Restoration Project, with funding from Friends of Hendricks Park, has been hosting workshops focusing on the native ecology and preservation of Hendricks Park. FoHP’s financial support has made it possible for WRP to conduct field trips at Hendricks Park for students from Edison and Harris Elementary schools. The goal of these workshops is to enhance the students’ knowledge of the park’s ecology, beauty, and history. Hendricks Park is filled with ecological diversity that we use as an educational tool on the field trips. Partnering with a local school, Edison Elementary, WRP and FOHP has conducted filed trips bringing students out to Hendricks Park for the past 4 years. This program not only helps students foster a stronger connection with their environment, but also instills a sense of place in their neighborhood.
Students participate in activities including:
- Studying and drawing plants in Hendricks Park’s native plant demonstration garden.
- Participating in a scavenger hunt to find natural objects in the Rhododendron garden.
- Hiking in Hendricks Park’s forest along Edison Elementary School’s adopted trail.
- Participating in a sensory game in the forest.
- Listening to storytelling by Ester Stutzman, a Kalapuya storyteller.
Walama Restoration Project and Friends of Hendricks Park envision a future year-round program at Edison elementary school that will bring students to the park throughout the school year. Students will observe and understand all of the seasonal ecological changes in the park. We believe that the more time students spend seasonally in the park, the deeper sense of stewardship and appreciation they will have for the native ecology of Hendricks Park and other open spaces in Eugene.
