There was a great turnout for the official groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday, June 23, 2009. The ceremony was at the old Caretaker's Cottage, which will soon be the new ESC Learning Center.
From L-R: Burien Mayor McGilton, King County Council Chair Dow Constantine, ESC Founder Georgette Valle, Representatives Sharon Nelson and Tina Orwall, ESC Board Pres Kerry Lohr, ESC Exec Dir Julie Burr and Burien Parks Director Michael Lafreniere. Click the thumbnail for a larger version.
Construction begins the week of June 29, 2009!!
Thanks to everyone who has contributed to the Capital Campaign and made this possible!
More details coming soon!
The ESC, Puget Sound Partnership, WRIA9 and The Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties are co-sponsoring a Low Impact Development Workshop for builders.
The Changing Political LID Landscape - How A Combination of Factors are Changing How We Look at LID. Low impact development (LID) is rapidly changing in the Puget Sound region, from being simply allowed and encouraged to being required where feasible. A number of factors have contributed to this change, and this changing political landscape for LID will affect the building community and their future project proposals. In this presentation, Bruce Wulkan, Stormwater Program Manager of the Puget Sound Partnership will address factors leading to this change and describe the latest thinking on the most commonly used and accepted LID techniques in the region.
Bruce will also outline the Partnership's ongoing LID technical assistance project that combines local government code assistance, professional training, technical guidance, and educational materials to help the region transition to the LID approach.
Date: Thursday, July 16th
Time: 12 - 1:30pm. Lunch included.
Location: Master Builder's Association, 335 116th Ave. SE, Bellevue
Cost: $25 Member/$30 Non-Member
More details are on the MBA site in the Events section.
The mission of the Environmental Science Center is to promote environmental stewardship, sustainability and academic achievement through science based environmental education. Serving South King County. We offer school-day programs, primarily for K-12 students, including classroom lessons and field trips, after school programs, summer camps, and community presentations.
Secure online Credit Card processing via PayPal for general donations to ESC is available on our Capital campaign page.
The Environmental Science Center (ESC) is the only community-based, not-for-profit environmental education organization in south King County with programs for all ages. With a primary focus on K through 12, ESC offers school-day programs including classroom lessons and field trips, after school programs, summer camps, and community presentations. Since its founding in 1999, rapid expansion in programs has led to an increasing number of program participants served, with more than 7,000 clients during 2007, up from 5,000 clients in 2006. In 2008 that rose to 10,190, providing 15,419 hours of environmental education .
ESC designs multi-faceted learning experiences to foster healthy human development, and understanding, stewardship, and conservation of our environment. Our goal is to enable students of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities to learn about the complex interactions between people and nature in our rich marine and forest environments. By using the stunning settings of Seahurst Park and the watersheds of South King County for field trips, ESC strengthens the learning experience by adding a strong message of stewardship to protect the beautiful and diverse habitats of the region.
What's new at ESC:
- The Environmental Science Club is a pilot program funded through a “No Child Left Inside” grant from the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission. Read more…
- Construction bids have been reviewed for the new Environmental Learning Center, and Landon Construction has been selected. We hope to start construction by early summer. The images on the right show the existing building and the planned Learning Center. Click for larger views. Read more…
- Boeing Company grants major capacity building gift Read more…
- Summer Science Blast! A Camp about the Nearshore and More! Our 8 day camp in July for 3rd to 6th graders includes a trip to the Seattle Aquarium, a field trip to the beach at Seahurst Park, scientific exploration of fresh and salt water environments, and in the forest. Scientists will also give presentations. Read more…
Imagine a Learning Center for south King County families and schools surrounded by 178 acres of forested trails and right next to a freshwater stream with a salmon hatchery on almost a mile of saltwater shoreline! This Google Map is marked at the approximate location of the Learning Center. The blue roof just to the North is the Puget Sound Skill Center Marine Technology Center.
Construction bids have been reviewed for the new Environmental Learning Center, and Landon Construction has been selected. We hope to start construction this summer. The official groundbreaking ceremony will be Tuesday June 23, 2009 from 3:30 PM to 5 PM. More details soon.
Moonlight Beach WalksOur Moonlight Beach Walks (in December and January) get more popular every year. Our naturalists are on the beach during the full moon at low tide to share information and guide walks. See our 2009-2010 flyer for general details. About 50 people showed up for each of the December and January events in 2008/2009. Moonlight Beach walks for the upcoming season will be on Saturday December 12, 2009 from 7 PM to 9 PM and Friday February 26, 2010 from 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM.
Our April 22, 2009 Earth Day dinner and auction exceeded all our goals. We planned on 100 people and hoped to raise $5,000. Instead 120 people came and helped us raise over $12,000 for ESC. Many thanks to the the people who donated the great auction items, and to everyone who joined in the bidding to help us raise money for ESC.
Over 600 family members attended a recent event hosted by ESC and the Seattle Aquarium. Participants were from two of ESC's partnering agencies- Para los Ninos and New Futures. Both agencies serve low income, diverse populations, who otherwise might not be able to enjoy an evening at Seattle's wonderful Aquarium at no charge. Participants were able to feed the octopus, enjoy the touch tanks, make marine themed crafts and observe marine life. All educational presentations were offered in both English and Spanish.
We'll have photos on our site soon, but meanwhile you can see some of Erica Nomura's photos of the event on her Flickr page.
Click on the photo to see an album of pictures from these two Beach Walks as well as the previous two in December 2007 and January 2008.
In spite of temperatures hovering right around freezing, occasional heavy rain and a wind storm, nearly 50 people showed up for the December 12th Beach Walk. Kids, parents and interested citizens spent about an hour and a half exploring the beach with flashlights, finding the creatures that are normally hidden. They learned about beach etiquette, marine life and much more. People for Puget Sound set up an awning at the top of the ramp so there would be a reasonably dry place to sign in and get oriented. And where coffee and hot chocolate were available to help warm people up.
The next Beach Walk on January 10 was a little warmer and drier, with a lot less wind. Well over 60 people participated.
People For Puget Sound and various partners are also sponsoring several others, including on Vashon Island, on Bainbridge Island, in Olympia and Anacortes. See their Events page for details.
Thanks to People for Puget Sound, the City of Burien and the Seattle Aquarium for helping to sponsor this event.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
The event was a great success with over 50 people showing up to pitch in. The group pulled ivy off of the old caretaker's house (site of the future ESC building) and a couple of nearby trees, removed several large holly trees, including one that was going to seed, and cleared blackberries and other invasives from two areas near the North Shelter. In one area ferns were planted to replace them. See SeahurstPark.org for details.