More Stories

CS13 (Fall 2016) Sienna Devoe-Talluto found a way to help others and herself in Guatemala.

CS8 (Spring 2014) Maya Roe explores a sense of place in her new book, Returns.

CS17 (Fall 2018) Sam Bull turns to nature for his senior project.

Science Teacher Andrew Deatt's reflections on his journey at Conserve School. 

The Conserve School Community enjoys a strong food culture even from a distance. 

Four students bravely recount a legendary CS20 adventure. 

Earth Art students, while completing their semester at home made natural watercolors with local soils.

Inspired by Conserve's "Artist in Residence," CS18 student's own art wins accolades.

Having a dedicated phenology spot helps students discover the meaning of a sense of place. 

Conserve School graduate's dream of traveling the world were put on hold but not defeated.

 Spotlight on CS Alums Helping in the battle against COVID-19

A new Earth Art lesson quickly became a favorite exhibit among staff and students.

A poem written about the sounds one can hear if they stop to listen to a frozen lake. 

Math students explored the Harmonic Series and the Leaning Tower of Lire through block play. 

COVID-19 has hit us all by storm. This is a current update on the CS20 (Spring 2020) semester experience. 

Elizabeth Fox CS10 (Spring 2015) shares her experience working with the Neema Project.

 CS6 (Spring 2013) Alum Emma Anderson finds many ways to serve.

A lesson in ice cutting engages students in history, science, team-building, and philosophy on Big Donahue Lake.

Laura Berry CS3 (Fall 2011) speaks on the importance of public involvement in Climate Change.

Winter camping in the Sylvania Wilderness is a challenging and rewarding endeavor.

Guest artist Terry Arnold helped Earth Art students learn how to make felted woolen slippers.

Learning how to know the forest through both Indigenous and Western knowledge. 

Wisconsin's Northwoods is immersed in the heart of winter.  Read some how Conserve School embraces this season! 

CS20 (Spring 2020) Quinzee Ice Town was an epic record breaker thanks to the leadership and enthusiasm of both staff and students!

Witness the gift of snow as documented by the CS20 (Spring 2020) Nature Photography Class.

Inspired by Birkie Weekend, students organized their own ski race on the Conserve School campus trails.

Getting "slushed" while on a frozen lake can be humbling. Even the best laid plans are not immune to winter slush! 

Snow, hiking, determination, Sunset Point, hammocking, and reflections on personal growth from the first week of the semester.

The mountains of Michigan's Upper Peninsula are great for downhill skiing and a fun weekend activity for students and staff.

A magical snowy weekend for Conserve School's 2020 Winter Connections Weekend. 

Five educators from Conserve School presented at WAEE Winter Workshop.

Staff workshops included certification and re-certification courses. 

We had another full and successful move-in day. CS20 has arrived and the semester has officially begun!

Ali Jakobsen CS15 (Fall 2017), presented on typhoon research at an atmospheric conference.

Madeline Gould CS3 (Fall 2011), walked the entire 2,650 mile Pacific Crest Trail.

CS20 used sawing wood as an entry into environmental literature, writing, and teamwork.

Stewardship class projects help students practice positive social change.

Tayla Klinger, CS9 (Fall 2014), receives prestigious fellowship.

CS19 came to a close with a final dinner together, the gift of paddles, final reflections, and hopes for the future.

CS 2007 alum Michael Waters designs an accessory to make backpacking more comfortable.

A CS19 student reflects on the feelings of returning from an adventure versus setting out on one.

Bonds form surprisingly quickly on Exploration Week while working and traveling together in the wilderness. 

Read about the CS19 Arts Club process of making a mural from start to finish. 

A hybrid lesson in Science and Outdoor Skills in the Sylvania Wilderness Area. 

CS16 (Spring 2018) alum, Noah Miller's Simple Act of Advocacy Goes Viral!

Being on a solo, alone in the woods, with your thoughts, and strange sounds all around is scary and awe-inspiring.

Students learned about the intrinsic links between culture, identity, stewardship, and the food we eat in a lesson about "food justice."

Students learned about the unique biology of lichen, and their high susceptibility to air pollutants.

CS19 students participated in the optional but much anticipated Polar Plunge.

CS19 staff and students came together to organize, learn, teach, and celebrate "Earth Week" at Conserve School.

Drew Steger, CS8 (Spring 2014), spends his summers helping the rural families in Honduras. 

Lily writes an essay about her big city dreams turning into Alaskan bush dreams.

Teaching Fellow Emily Haynes recently was awarded a master's degree. 

Conserve School was represented at the Fresh Coast Film Festival with a film produced  by Rob and Kate Houle. 

All students participate in staff-led campus night hikes to get used to being outside in the dark.

Zinnia Voss, CS17 (Fall 2018), undertakes the journey of a lifetime.

Eleva Potter, Director of Conservation Programming, writes about her recent talk at the annual NAAEE Conference. 

Cade had some realizations about his Conserve family while spending "Family Weekend" with his sibling family.

The Nine Lake Loop or Lowenwood Portage, helps students experience the lakes on campus in a whole new way.

Olivia Heese, CS17 (Fall 2018), has deep roots in Ethiopia that are growing even stronger.

A student reflects on one of her first nights at Conserve School, getting to know new friends, under the northern lights.

CS17 Alum Stella Banowetz uses her voice against climate change.

Teaching Fellow and CS Alum, Maia, with her sister; also an alum, paddle and reflect on the nature of change at Lowenwood.

Conserve School endeavors to have a greater impact and reach more young people through a new initiative. Read about the visit from Eagle River 4th graders.

Exploration Week is a time for students to build and use their outdoor skills, as well as a time for personal growth and bonding.

Dogs are a conservationist's best friend. CS1 Alum Kayla Fratt introduces students to Working Dogs for Conservation.

The bog walk lesson in Science serves as an introduction for students to a unique ecosystem in the Northwoods.

To make the history of The Corps of Discovery come alive, history teacher, Michael Salat gives students a taste of building a dugout canoe and paddles.

Spanish Class learns vocabulary that is useful in communicating about the natural world through guided tree meditations.

Audrey Swanenberg, a 2008 Alum, is part of an ambitious program to restore the glory of Chesapeake Bay.

English Teacher, Jeff Rennicke, led a weekend paddle in the Sylvania. Students ate scones and took in the wilderness with their senses while practicing new canoeing skills. 

Here is a little slice of the activities, academics, and adventuring students have been involved with since CS19 arrived almost two weeks ago.

In the first English class of CS19 saws sing and students Learn with Aldo Leopold’s “Good Oak” essay.

Roxanne Korpela (CS8) Finds the beauty and size of Alaska unforgettable.

This summer educators gathered to learn about building community climate resiliency within the Ojibwe Ceded Territory of MN, WI, and MI.

Huckleberries are important to many species in the Rocky Mountains. Read about the volunteer data collection Science Teacher, Anderew Deaett did in Montana.

Dreams of science and adventure come together for alum Maya Dizack on a paddle of the full length of the Mississippi River. 

Summertime is professional development time! Read about Rebecca and Paul's recent LNT Master Educator certification training.

A student from CS16 lovingly wrote an article for his sending school newspaper a year after his Conserve School experience.

For the past few summers, Conserve School has been hosting Escuela Verde from Milwaukee for Conservation Camp. 

Niina Baum CS3 Alum and Molly to represent team USA in Sweden 2019 IFSS Dryland World Championship.

CS7 Alum and current St. Olaf College student Henry Henson ’20 has been awarded the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship for the 2019–20 academic year.

Philosophical and practical reflections on pedagogy in the natural world inspires this AP Environmental Science lesson in aquatic macroinvertebrates.

Many students choose to rise early to spend more time in nature. Some Students create and lead activities before the academic day starts.

Math modeling can be used to determine the probability of future potentially catastrophic events in nature. 

CS17 alums lead the way with the Wisconsin Youth Climate Summit. These students are leaders, organizers and activists. 

Exploration Week is a time of bonding, some hardship, and tremendous growth. This is often magnified when the weather presents it's own challenges. 

We just commissioned our 1000th student at the CS18 Recognition Ceremony! Here are the end of semester highlights.

Spanish class had fun cooking, learning about and eating traditional foods from various Spanish-speaking countries.

Science Teacher, Andrew Deaett, was recently awarded a National Geographic Educator Certification.

Phenology is the act recording what one observes in nature over time. Here is a look at several pages from spring of one student's Phenology Book.

Recently, Spanish students reflected on their solo camping experiences, which involved 1-2 nights camping solo in Lowenwood.

Read about the kinds of campus stewardship CS18 students engaged in for their Class Taking Action Projects. 

A mainstay of the Conserve School curriculum is a solo camping experience. Two nights alone at a peaceful on-campus site. 

Siblings and CS Alums, Noah and Maia Sauer team up for a radio show at Middlebury College. 

Bruce Crownover, a working print master was a guest artist at Conserve School, both working and teaching students during Earth Week. 

Our adjunct social worker has a holistic approach to mental health maintenance and offers activities to support students in a variety of different ways.

Students attended an Outdoor Skills Workshop where their project was to create camp stoves using soda cans.

Our community garden is one way that semesters become interwoven with one another. One semester will plant while the next may harvest. 

The Sylvania Wilderness Traverse, a planned winter camping trip that became a very foggy and damp spring camping trip.

Between maple syrup boiling and the Iron Chef style competition in Outdoor Skills class, the LRC has been smelling great lately!

A combined lesson in Outdoor Skills and Environmental Citizenship had ideal conditions to snowshoe, identify animal tracks and learn about local mining history as well as its impact.

Students did a lesson on climate change using Biltmore Sticks to estimate the amount of carbon dioxide sequestered in trees on campus.

In math class students were assigned the task of finding the shortest route to completing a journey to each of Conserve School's eleven Geocaches.

Spring is an exciting time in the Northwoods. Snow is melting, birds are chirping and sap is flowing. CS18 got their first lesson in Maple Tree Tapping last week!

Students recently had the benefit of Mutual Aid Disaster and Beehive Collective organizations as Guest Speakers in Stewardship.

With Jim Lowenstein's vision in mind, Earth Art students learn about natural history by drawing and painting in the Conserve School Natural History Museum.

The Outdoor Skills class embraces cross country skiing both in a track and in the backcountry as a means of lifelong recreation.

Science Teaching Fellow, Emma, takes inspiration from the hardships of Rosalind Franklin and sees her own grandmother in a new light.

Teaching Fellow, Martha Torstenson was awarded a Fulbright in Norway researching seasonal adaptations and how they relate to resilience to climate change.

Students in math class learned how to use mathematical modeling to explore how pollution might flow through a chain of lakes.

The Birkebeiner is a historic and festive ski race for snow enthusiasts. This is my story of Conserve School at The Birkie this year.

Lake Ecology and Tracking are just a few of the programs our Ecology team partners with Soar Charter School to provide.

While skiing, Environmental Citizenship students discussed climate change and it's affect on snow sports industries. 

Spanish class takes morning nature walks and immerses themselves in the Spanish language through conversation. 

In a combined English and History lesson students mounted an expedition into the winter wilderness.

In this “Skills Workshop”, 25 students worked together to build six “Quinzees” – snow shelters you can sleep inside.

Outdoor Skills and Science staff partnered up to plan a lesson that included both compass navigation and tree identification.

Seven students and Stefan went into the Sylvania Wilderness on snowshoes, with two dogs in tow, on a mission for pizza.

Many classes are honoring Black History Month in their lessons and projects. Earth Art Students learned about the quilt makers of Gee's Bend.

Field Sketching is an important combined Art and Science lesson that happens at the beginning of each semester.

In Science, students were asked to observe five different trees and note their major characteristics while learning about Wisconsin's last glacial event.

CS18 Students study the National Wilderness Preservation System in English and History class through research, imagination, and artwork.

Earth Art starts the semester with a tea party that takes students on an imaginary journey looking at crafts from different places around the world.

Every January, Wisconsin Association for Environmental Education hosts Winter Workshop for Wisconsin's Educators.

Move-In Weekend is an exciting time for staff and students; a whirlwind of new beginnings, activities and campus exploration. 

Staff, faculty, and campus services have been preparing in a vast variety of ways for the arrival of the CS18 student body.

The question of "how to be human," has been an underlying theme throughout the semester in AP Environmental Science class.

Outdoor Skills class learns Wilderness First Aid and explores possible scenarios with hands on learning in their outdoor classroom.

At Conserve School students form a connection with nature through their "Phenology Spot" and reflecting on their "Sense of Place."

Students in Spanish class learned how to make empanadas together and then engaged in the tradition of "sobremesa."

Our English class, Wilderness Voices, examines perspectives in literature through "Windows and Mirrors" while spending an afternoon outside.

The Taking Action Project (TAP) is a cornerstone of the Stewardship in Action Class at Conserve School.

The art room has been a busy place! A recent guest teacher and artisan, Charles Nickles, taught students how to make rings from wood.

Students at Conserve School learn to navigate with a compass and map, but sometimes you have to get a little lost to find yourself.  

Stewardship in Action recently did a unit on Art as Activism where they learned several print making techniques and much more.

Students from CS17 built and practiced their ice skating skills at the Snowflake Ice Rink in Land O' Lakes, Wisconsin.

The observation of nature, phenology, is both an art and a science. Students each have their own phenology spot to observe and record their surroundings.

A History class field trip to the Norwich Mine helps students understand the mining history of the Upper Peninsula.

Math students recently studied Fibonacci numbers using monominos, then ventured into recursion and The Golden Ratio.

Sara Hansen (CS7) to promote climbing among women in Cambodia and Thailand

La mesa de español is a popular lunchtime activity for students who want to improve or maintain their foreign language skills.

The NCT has miles of scenic beauty from waterfalls to the Mother of all lakes. This student saw Lake Superior for the first time.

The history of Lumberjacking in this region of the country gets a lesson in log splitting in Michael Salat's history class.

In Earth Art, students create characters, Environmental Heroes, from leaves and other found materials to share with the Conserve School Community.

Science Teacher, Leanna Jackan hosted a late night candlelight bog hike where students explored both folktales and scientific explanations of bogs.

Director of Student Support, Phil DeLong, writes about the intentional support measures that Conserve School provides to support its students.

In Wilderness Voices, Conserve School's English class, students reenacted one of the strangest tales in Alaskan literature.

Yesterday, with excitement, students embarked on their Solo trips, a mainstay of the Conserve School experience.

A group of students led by Teaching Fellows spent a day volunteering with the Friends of the Porcupine Mountains clearing trails for the coming ski season.

In Stewardship in Action students learned about ways to turn invasive species into food, fuel, fiber, and building material.

Rain, wind, and damp gear, to bright sunshine rays and crisp fall days. The range of experiences on Exploration Week was full of contrasts.

Lucas LoBreglio (CS13) wins Aldo Leopold Writing Contest with his story, Cherry Hill: My Greatest Classroom

Students stay busy building skills and proficiency in academics, art and the outdoors. This past weekend they got to share these experiences with their families.

Families with students in Earth Art, participate in an Earth Art printing project in the art room during Family Weekend.

Students explored the world of fungi both artistically and scientifically. Learning about and hunting mushrooms in the forest and then painting them in the art room.

Stormy conditions, mysteries, compromise, adaptation, and resilience, are all things students on Exploration Week may discover.

Weather rolls in quickly on Lake Superior. This is one student's experience backpacking during Exploration Week on Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

The Five Lake Loop is a favorite lesson for both students and teachers alike! It is a combined History and English lesson that traverses the Sylvania.

Important lessons in Outdoor Skills prior to the Five Lake Loop and Exploration Week are portaging and canoe t-rescues.

Last week's beautiful weather lent itself wonderfully to the outdoor weaving, Earth Art, project in the commons.

This week in science class, CS17 made the first step towards building a long term monitoring plan of white tail deer population on campus.

Herbivores, omnivores and carnivores, predators and prey, this is "Life and Death in the Forest." Read about this outdoor science lesson.

Annie Birkeland (CS4) explores the wonders, beauties, and dangers of ocean freediving.

Math students got out of the classroom last week and went outside and into the woods to use fractals for measuring ferns.

English Teacher, Jeff Rennicke, takes time to tackle the relationship we all have with fear in the wilderness in a lesson called, "The Trail of Eyes."

Conserve School has adopted a segment of the NCT in The Trapp Hills region of Upper Michigan. Students volunteer to help maintain the trail.

In Stewardship class students harvested wild edibles, made delicious recipes, and came up with their own guidelines for harvesting with respect and for sustainability.

Our new English Teaching Fellow, Noah, from Detroit has shared a journal entry from his first camping trip in the Sylvania Wilderness during a staff training expedition.

Ahmae Epstein, CS11 Alum, describes how Conserve School ignited her passion for Alaska and made her determined to witness it with her own eyes. 

Michael and Jeff, History and English teachers respectively combined lessons both in the classroom and on the Lowenwood Estate to rewrite "The Wilderness Act."

Our Spanish language teacher, Kathleen, taught a lesson in mindfulness entirely in Spanish to encourage both listening and thinking in Spanish. 

Art teachers, Robert and Nancy kicked off the semester with a tea ceremony introducing students to crafts and natural materials used in art around the world.

CS1 Alum, Marshall Yaklin commissioned as an Ensign in the United States Navy. Recently having completed primary flight training, Marshall shares his story.

Tara (CS10) tells the tale of a summer at Wind Dance Farm and Earth Education Center

Ryan Clark, CS6 Alum describes the thrill of his newfound love: skydiving. 

...the power of the solo experience becomes clear. Through spending over 24 hours in a single area, some of the more intricate workings of this campus became familiar.