Oak Rankin spoke to our club about the Glacier Peak Institute (GPI). 

 

Oak has worked all of the world raft gliding.  He grew up in Darrington.  He has taught English in Brazil, explored mountains, and traveled the world.

 

There is a high level of poverty and special education rates in Darrington.  School enrollment in Darrington has gone down while the state levels have gone up. 

 

GPI was created after the slide.  Oak analyzed rural communities from the Canadian border to the California boarder and found rural communities were having the same issues Darrington was. 

 

Kids at risk benefit from being outdoors.  GPI set out to address needs connected with science, technology, recreation resources, engineering, arts, math, and skills.

 

GPI tries to get children more comfortable outside and away from screen time.  They attempt to create passion for the outdoors in the children.  The children get hands on experience to learn and build more resiliency.  GPI offers work and volunteer programs for the kids to learn new skills.

 

Outdoor programs increase the health of the community as a whole.  Sports only increases the physical fitness of the child.

 

GPI partnered with Seattle University to create pressure monitoring systems for the syrup in trees. 

 

GPI takes children fishing and teaches archery, camouflage, shelter building, journaling, hiking, canoeing, rafting, and much more.

 

You can help by volunteering, donating time, money, gear, materials, tools, and attending the fundraiser on May 17^th in Seattle. 

 

Click HERE for more on the Glacier Peak Institute