Cedar Ridge Enjoys a 'Sim'ulating Family Nature Night

For their first-ever family nature night, Cedar Ridge 3rd, 4th and 5th graders showed up in record numbers! An estimated 123 people attended the event. What a great turnout!

Families were greeted by Emily, a SOLE educator and Mike Trujillo, Area Wildlife Manager and familiar face to many in Pueblo! Guests were encouraged to explore the seven activities offered, as well as enjoy some pizza in the cafeteria. Noel, Park Ranger from Lake Pueblo State Park and volunteer Sue Hardesty ran the "Wildlife Olympics". Nikki King, another CPW staff from Colorado Springs, ran the Generation Wild table.

"Backyard Bass" casting and Archery was held in the gym. For many students, this is their first time trying archery or fishing. Archery was led by Tracy Predmore and Bonnie Gray, CPW staff from Colorado Springs and Denver, respectively. Fishing was led by Sabrina Chande and Sabina Valencia, and both work in the Denver office.

Pueblo's Fish hatchery also attended family nature night! Families learned all about how the hatchery raises brown trout to be released into streams and rivers. Hatcheries aid in managing fish populations all over Colorado. Their work not only provides food for natural predators, but it also promotes recreational activities such as fishing. They also taught students some simple knots that would be useful to an angler.

CaveSim, a SOLE Partner, attended their first family nature night at Cedar Ridge. Students went through a cave simulation, learning first-hand the difficulty of exploring a cave without affecting its environment. This was such an exciting activity for both students and parents! CaveSim also brought an "emergency lift" system that would be used for rescues in a spelunking emergency. Lifting someone out of a cave requires some knowledge in math and physics., so this was a great learning experience for many families. Thanks so much for coming, CaveSim!

At six o'clock, it was finally time for the raffle! Students went home with some awesome outdoor-friendly prizes. Congrats to all of our winners!

SOLE would like to thank all families that attended family nature night, and a special thank you goes out to all CPW staff and staff at Cedar Ridge! SOLE could not put together this event without the assistance of the teachers. See you next year for another awesome family nature night, Cedar Ridge!