When riding an ATV one needs to be observant and safe that’s why NOS held an ASI training course for the public at the Elko county reserved range. In this ASI training taught by ASI certified trainer Allana Havernick three members of the public attended to sharpen their skills on an ATV. The participants learned skill sets such as braking within the correct timing and where to look when applying their machine’s braking system, how to properly check and turn on the machine, and how to safely and successfully drive over or around obstacles on the trail. NOS offers these classes to the public in an interest to foster knowledge and develop skills in the public for ATVS. Having these skills and knowledge lets the public ride safely and keep on the designated trails.

Photo: Instructor Allana has a victory selfie as the participants finish the course.

Four of Nevada Outdoor School’s staff and AmeriCorps members traveled to Round Mountain to teach students from kindergarten all the way to high school about Ride Safe, Ride Smart. This was achieved by a fun skit that introduced the 5 Tread Lightly! principles. After the skit the students had time to further explore the 5 Tread Lightly! principles through interactive stations. One of the stations was on traveling responsibly where students got to learn about how being prepared and having enough fuel before riding is important by carrying 2 full gas cans 40 feet. During the event the students explored their actions and impacts and how to choose to make a small impact when riding ATV’s.

Photo caption: AmeriCorps members presenting the RS2 Tread Master Skit to elementary students in Round Mountain. 

This Valentine’s Day, Nevada Outdoor School celebrated by teaching a Tread Lightly! Awareness Workshop in Elko.The workshop was hosted by Elko Program Coordinator and Tread Trainer, Meghan Rich. Attendees of this workshop included 6 members of BLM from the California Trail Center and 5 Snow Rangers from the Forest Service. This 4 hour awareness workshop covered the 5 Tread Lightly! Principles and how they can be applied while recreating outdoors. Participants left with new found knowledge and the ability to help spread awareness for keeping our access to motorized trails open. This was accomplished with discussions and hands-on games and activities, a NOS specialty!

Photo: BLM and Forest Service Rangers playing Trash Timeline, a game that shows how long items can take to decompose. 

With the weekend before Valentine's day NOS hosted a romantic night hike for the communities of Winnemucca and Elko of which 24 members came to enjoy the campfire, hotcoca, and smores under the stars. This was facilitated by NOS and run by AmeriCorps members. This romantic night allowed people to come and spend some time under the stars around a warm campfire with a cup of hot cocoa and end their self-guided hike with a fresh smore. NOS puts on these community hikes for the public to enjoy the outdoors in their area while also being a conduit for meeting like minded people who enjoy outdoors activities. This fits NOS’s goal of getting people from the community outside throughout the year and throughout the day and night.

Photo: Elko Romantic Night Hike attendees enjoying a warm fire! 

On February 8th, the NOS Education team came together to participate in an 8 hour long Tread Trainer Course! By taking the opportunity to receive this training, our team can go out to lessons or roadshow events and speak on the 5 Tread Lightly! Principles. In total, we had 6 staff and AmeriCorps members complete the training, which was hosted by Master Tread Trainer and Programs Coordinator, Allana.

Photo: NOS Education Team learning all about Tread Lightly!

On February 3rd 2023, NOS was able to facilitate two fun workshops on Maps and Compasses in Elko and Winnemucca where participants learned about compasses and how to use them in an exciting way! These Workshops facilitated by NOS staff and AmeriCorps Outdoor Educators reached 10 participants.Each of the participants were able to learn something new about compasses and how to use them in a fun and exciting way! The event was pirate themed and the participants all got to use the compasses with a guide to get to each destination. At each destination they found pieces of a map that had degrees written on them as well as clues as to where the next piece was. Once the participants made it to the end they each got a NOS water bottle with fun goodies!

Photo: AmeriCorps member, Johnny Cooper, showing participants how to use a compass.

The first snowshoe hike of 2023! This hike was a fun and new area that the Elko team got to explore. The Elko team got to hike on the lower trails off 5th Street below the Snowbowl. The Winnemucca team was able to hike at Overlook Trail. The NOS members that were able to join in this event were Meghan Rich, Kaitlin Phipps, Karl Klein, Jasmine Burnett, and Allana Havernick. We had many participants at this event and had so much fun! The participants got to learn a new skill and meet many new people. Everyone seemed to have a great time hiking in the snow and learning about a fun new way to do it!

Pictured: Elko snowshoe participants getting ready to leave for the hike!

There’s nothing that can bring people together like hot homemade soup on a cold day! This is when we got to show our Dutch oven cooking skills to 14 members of the communities of Winnemucca and Elko. The community members who participated with us got to have hot bowls of chicken gnocchi soup, white chicken chili, and loaded baked potato soup to warm them up on the winter day. This is a skill that can be passed down through the family and can make a great bonding experience for them. If you don’t already know, a dutch oven is a cast iron pot with a lid that is made to hold coals around and on top of it. This instrumental tool helped supply food to settlers going west along the California trail.

Pictured: Community members line up for a hot bowl of soup and the history of the cast iron Dutch oven along with cooking tips for it.

In mid-January a couple of the NOS AmeriCorps members were able to go to the Youth Wildlife Conservation Experience in Reno to help teach students from schools in the Reno area about hunting, fishing, and outdoor safety as well as just have fun! The AmeriCorps NOS members; Johnny Cooper and Kaitlin Phipps, were able to experience new things and amazing people.. They got to encourage students to be safe and responsible outside and even learn more about outdoor safety themselves. They were even able to meet non profits just like NOS from all over the US! Students were able to do activities all over the Expo and interact with Johnny and Kaitlin while learning!

Pictured: AmeriCorps, Kaitlin Phipps, at the NOS booth!

The New Year New Steps walk was a great event to start out the New Years outdoors! In Winnemucca the event took place at the fitness trail and in Elko it was at the Fairgrounds with a total of 9 participants between both locations. In this event everyone got to share some highlights from 2022 and new goals for 2023. One participant's goal was to spend 1000 hours outdoors in 2023! At the end of the walk we all enjoyed hot cocoa and wrote letters to ourselves to open in the next New Year.

Pictured: Prompting signs for writing a letter to your future self