
Academic Engagement – Grades 9 and 10 Spanish
One of the main objectives for students in the process of learning Spanish is to create a confident environment where they can learn and practice listening and speaking Spanish as a second language through writing and reading. Students in 9/10 Spanish classes have been learning to hone these skills this year! Students have come far in their abilities to ask and answer questions as well as converse in Spanish. Most recently, they have started to learn how to create more complex statements that use direct and indirect object pronouns and phrasing that allow them to speak in multiple time frames.
Students have been challenged to apply knowledge through conversations, reading comprehension and listening comprehension activities. There have also been, of course, writing activities that have included both dictations and working to apply new material in both sentences and paragraphs. Finally, students have worked on verbally describing pictures, another essential skill for success in IB Spanish. The lessons are taken from a Spanish manual (Método Cuauhnahuac – a natural language acquisition program) and web sites. The social-cultural aspect has been relevant in this process, as the teaching of Mexican traditions, historical events and American celebrations have had students investigate, in Spanish, information so they can speak about them.
Upcoming project work will include describing Spring traditions in Mexico and in the US, to include looking at the importance of pyramids to Mexican culture and Easter celebrations. Students will need to apply pronunciation work, grammatical structures, and learned vocabulary to successfully tackle this task.
Each class, our students have 65 minutes of learning completely in the target language. While this can be exhausting, it is the best way to refine skills and build confidence! It is important that students and parents work together to create the habit of reading texts in Spanish to support continued progress.

Character Development – Integrity!
As a senior and lifelong student at the Teton Science Schools, if there is one thing I can tell you about my experience moving into my years in the International Baccalaureate Program, it’s that it’s not easy. It never is. I’ve talked to a number of students in the grades before me about their experiences as well as my own classmates’ experiences, and there is one thing you will always hear… It’s a LOT OF WORK! It takes a lot of getting used to. It’s not just another two years of high school until you graduate. You have to be willing to put in the work, and a lot of it. Grit and perseverance may be the two most important attributes to have when it comes to starting and eventually finishing your time in IB. Without this I would have been lost. All you have to remember at the end of the day is, that’s all it takes to get through your work, and feel a sense of accomplishment and pride after the fact. I wouldn’t feel right telling anyone that IB is an easily manageable thing to do, because it’s not. But I feel confident telling someone that if you are willing to drive yourself to do better, and truly care about your work, it’s more than achievable. The most important thing that I could tell someone about IB is that it’s up to you. Of course, your teachers will always be there to help you succeed because they want to see you succeed just as much as you do, but it’s also not possible without putting in the work yourself. If you can truly dedicate yourself and sometimes a little extra time out of your day to doing good work, the International Baccalaureate Program will always be to your advantage. It’s there to make you smarter, and truly prepare you for the next steps in your life, but it can only do that if you’re willing to dedicate yourself too.
-Alden Rice’23

Community Focus – Our Upper School Community
In mid February the entire Upper School spent the week at Kelly Campus in Grand Teton National Park for the annual winter journey. This was the first time students and faculty have been able to return to this tradition at Kelly since before the Covid-19 pandemic and it was a joy to bring it back! Students spent time in 9/10 and 11/12 cohorts and both employed the scientific method in their experiences at Kelly. Freshmen and sophomores engaged in programming with TSS Field Educators who led students through explorations of plant and animal adaptations in different habitat types as well as snow science. Most of these days were spent primarily outdoors and despite the cold temperatures, morale and engagement remained high among all students! Juniors and seniors completed the International Baccalaureate Group 4 Project, an interdisciplinary science project where biology, physics, and Environmental Systems and Societies students collaborated on an investigation of their design. Seniors designed scientific experiments around the theme “Human Anatomy & Physiology” while juniors’ experiments inquired about “Aspects of Snow.” In each of their small groups, students employed effective teamwork, consistent focus and hard work, and particularly strong science in their investigations. Their final products – presentations – were quite impressive! During free time students organized and played games – “Ninja” was an especially big hit! In the evenings, students and faculty engaged in conversations about the 3Ts – Try Hard, Take Responsibility, and Treat with Respect – as well as community building activities. Seeing the buy-in from every individual on this journey was incredible and inspiring. The Upper school Community is certainly stronger for it.

Student Corner
“Welcome to Mountain Academy, Raleigh,” said one of my teachers as I entered the Upper School building. I was handed my name tag and chose a cubby. I walked around the school and saw Chloe, whom I had shadowed when I visited the school. She welcomed me and introduced me to her friends.
Coming from a small school in Pittsburgh, with 45 students in my 8th grade class, to Mountain Academy, with less than 45 students in the high school, I was excited for the challenge of making new friends in a new place. The school I left was a second home of sorts, and I had concerns about starting over in Wyoming. My second week at Mountain Academy changed my perspective on what place-based education means. Before my second week, I had heard the expression and in my second week I learned what it meant. What happened in my second week? The journey. The journeys are the core of Teton Science Schools. On the first day of the journey, I had my doubts about sleeping in the woods with people I had just met, but don’t we all? I came into the journey with the intention of making it to the campus and creating new friendships. One of the most memorable and most funny experiences on the journey was cooking my last meal. I didn’t have high expectations; I knew I wasn’t a professional chef. The meal was supposed to be a lentil and rice stew. We ended up adding way too many lentils, not enough rice, and way too much salt. Seeing the look on everyone’s faces as they tried this was priceless. It was a real low point in my cooking career. The only obstacle that stopped us from not finishing this pot of stew was the fact that not finishing this pot meant we had to create what is known as a yum-yum bag. A yum-yum bag is a bear safe bag filled with all the uneaten food. You may be thinking “Why on earth is she talking about a disgusting pot of stew and a yum-yum bag?” Well, by the time we finished eating this stew, I’d bonded with these people. After that moment, I knew this place was going to become like home to me.
-Raleigh Morgenstern’35
Ms. Kezang Yangden is the Conservation Director in WWF Bhutan office. She holds a master’s degree in environmental management from Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and master’s degree in forestry from Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy, Dehradun, India. Prior to joining WWF, she worked with the Department of Forests and Park Services of Royal Government of Bhutan leading the national forest inventory of Bhutan and contributing to the development and implementation of the REDD+(Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Degradation) program in Bhutan. She has 15 years of experience working in the field of environment and conservation particularly in sustainable forest management, forest carbon, conservation planning and climate action.
She is a recipient of the 2017 National Order of Merit Award, Bronze from His Majesty The King of Bhutan for her dedicated service to the nation.
Dr. Kinley Tenzin completed his Undergraduate BSc in forestry from the University of the Philippines and his Master’s degree in Natural Resource Management from the University of Edinburgh, UK. In 2003, he was appointed as Forest Research Program Officer and a National Counterpart to the International Project funded by Boku University, Austria and Columbia University, USA. In May 2008, he has successfully completed his PhD from the Boku University, Vienna, Austria. In 2010, he was appointed as Program Director by the Royal Government of Bhutan.
As Program Director he is the head of the Renewable Natural Resource Research and Development Center, based at Thimphu. The research institution has a national mandate to coordinate forestry research in the country. There is also a regional mandate to cater the research and extension needs in agriculture, forestry and livestock in five districts in western and southern Bhutan.
In 2015, he was appointed as Executive Director for Royal Society for Protection of Nature (RSPN) to look after conservation. He is also currently the member to the National Environmental Commission (NEC), a Board Member to Climate Action Network of South Asia (CANSA), and a Steering Committee member on the Trans Bhutan Trail initiative. Below is our interview with Dr. Tenzin.
Karma Tshering, Ph.D. is the Managing Director of the Bhutan Trust Fund for Environmental Conservation. He joined BTF from 07 October 2022 for a period of three years. Dr. Karma has Ph.D. in Conservation and Development from University of Sydney, Australia. A passionate conservationist, Dr. Karma has served for more than 27 years in various agencies in the field of environmental conservation and ecotourism. He has been actively involved in the promotion of incentive-based conservation through transformation of the conventional system of forest and park management by establishing and institutionalizing nature recreation and ecotourism in the country. He continues to dedicate his time and services for environmental conservation with no institutional boundaries.
Dr. Karma Tshering is from Lamgong, Tsendona, Paro.
Tshewang Wangchuk is the Executive Director of the Bhutan Foundation. He started out as an intern working with Bhutan’s first conservation NGO, the Royal Society for Protection of Nature in 1988, working with Dasho Paljor ‘Benji’ Dorji. While pursuing his undergraduate studies in the United States, he worked in Yosemite and Grand Teton National Parks during the summers. After graduating from the University of Maryland, College Park, he returned to Bhutan and worked for the Bhutan Government’s Nature Conservation Division. He was actively involved in its extensive protected area management system as one of the first Park Managers in the country. Later, he coordinated WWF International’s Global Tiger Program covering many tiger-range states in Asia from 2003-2005. For his doctoral research in Wildlife Biology at the University of Montana, he traversed the mountains of Bhutan collecting snow leopard scat for genetic analyses. He continues to stay connected with the many mountain communities he has visited over the years. He is also the first National Geographic Explorer from Bhutan, a member of the Explorers Club, and serves on the board of the Snow Leopard Conservancy.
Nawang is the Founder and Executive Director at the Bhutan Ecological Society. He is also Center Director of the Center for Climate and Sustainable Futures, a collaborative research and education initiative between the School for Field Studies in the US, the Royal University of Bhutan and the BES. Recently, he helped craft Bhutan’s RNR Strategy 2030, and also drafted, in collaboration with the Royal Government and the FAO, the national pathways to transform Bhutan’s food systems. Nawang is committed to building a just and verdant world and continues to explore the drivers and consequences of development and change.
Hometown: Springfield, IL
Favorite Animal: Great Gray Owl
Alex was born and raised in Springfield, IL and grew up reading field guides whenever he wasn’t out looking for turtles and frogs. He can still vividly remember
the first Great Blue Heron he saw and it was this modern day dinosaur that sparked his interest in birds. He moved to Olympia, Washington to study ecology at The Evergreen State College where his love of natural history continued to grow. While studying abroad in Chile Alex discovered a passion for sharing his love of natural history as well as getting into birding as a hobby. Straight out of undergrad Alex attended Western Washington University to obtain a Masters in Environmental Education, which included a yearlong residency teaching and writing curriculum at the North Cascades Institute. In the ten years since finishing grad school he has worked naturalist and outdoor education jobs in Oregon, California, Maine, and back to Washington. For two years he managed education and outreach programs for the New Mexico Wildlife Center. There he delivered live raptor programs, cared for non-releasable birds, mammals, and reptiles as well as assisting in the rehabilitation of injured wildlife.
Alex came to Jackson Hole in 2022 to join Wildlife Expeditions as a Guide and loves sharing the magnificent wildlife and scenery of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem with visitors. When he’s not guiding, Alex can be found birding, cross-country skiing, or hiking with his adopted husky, Mia.
Hometown: Huntington Beach, CA
Favorite animal in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem: The Grizzly Bear (Ursus arctos horribilis)
Whitney (she/her/hers) has a passion for helping people connect with the outdoor world through a scientific lens and for promoting stewardship to protect the places we all love. She has both a Master’s degree in Ecology and a teaching certificate, which she has used as a wildlife guide, the curriculum designer and instructor of the University of Wyoming’s Guide Certification program. Whitney has an extensive teaching background both in and out of the classroom. As the Director of Wildlife Expeditions, Whitney provides our guides with mentorship, continuing education experiences and professional development to ensure that we offer the best guides in the industry. In her free time, you can find Whitney somewhere on the river, hiking with her husband and toddler, or examining scat with more interest than many would find normal.
Hometown: San Antonio, Texas
Favorite animal in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem: Moose
Born and raised in the Texas hill country, David grew up hearing stories from his parents of the majesty of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. While earning his degree in Biomedical Sciences from Texas A&M University, David assisted in the care of captive elk, lynx, and white-tailed deer, some of the animals found in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. After realizing that he couldn’t safely own a pet moose, he decided to move to Jackson so he could see them daily. Since arriving, he has thoroughly enjoyed sharing his passion for the parks by creating memorable experiences for his guests while also inspiring love for our beautiful planet and its creatures. The fact that Jackson Hole has 3 more seasons than Texas is an added bonus. When not guiding, David enjoys hiking with his dog, skiing and snowboarding, reading, and gazing up at the Teton range.
Hometown: Southern New Hampshire
Favorite animal: Bison
Samantha grew up in southern New Hampshire, skiing and hiking in the White Mountains. After graduating from Hamilton College with a degree in Philosophy, she returned to New Hampshire to work for the Appalachian Mountain Club in their backcountry hut system. Samantha then turned her enthusiasm for outdoor education into a position at a local Waldorf school in the White Mountains. She moved to Jackson in July and can be found exploring on her bike, hiking in the mountains, or getting mildly lost in the side streets of town square.
Hometown: La Fayette, Georgia
Favorite animal in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem: Great Grey Owl
Logan (he/him/his) grew up in southern Appalachia which connected him to the outdoors and natural world from an early age. While obtaining a Bachelor’s degree in Outdoor Leadership from Young Harris College in Northeast Georgia, Logan immersed himself in as many outdoor experiences as possible to better connect himself with outdoor places and communities. After working many seasons as a guide and field instructor, Logan began working with private and public colleges in the State of Georgia coordinating outdoor programming with an emphasis on introducing inner-city and underprivileged students to outdoor initiatives and sustainable practices while recreating outdoors. Logan‘s model for facilitating outdoor programs is to introduce, educate, inspire, and create an everlasting and expanding relationship with the natural world and diverse communities around us.
Hometown: Kalamazoo, Michigan
Favorite animal in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem: Bison
Dylan grew up in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Summer road trips introduced him to the National Parks and the mountains of the American West. After graduating college with a degree in Environmental Education, he has gotten an opportunity to live and work in some of the most amazing places in the world, including Mt St Helens National Monument, Redwoods National and State Parks, Death Valley, North Cascades, Grand Teton, and Yellowstone National Parks. Outside of work, Dylan enjoys photography, travel, biking, hiking, and watching movies.
Hometown: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Favorite animal in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem: Osprey
Helen grew up exploring northern Wisconsin’s forests, lakes, rivers and bogs. She attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she earned dual degrees in Conservation Biology and Environmental Studies. There she had the opportunity to study marine and terrestrial tropical ecology in Ecuador, and she focused her studies on alpine plants in high Andean grasslands called páramos. Throughout her time in school and after graduating, Helen led 9 to 45-day canoeing, sea kayaking, and backpacking expeditions focused on leadership development amongst groups of young women. These trips led her from the Great Lakes Region to the tundras of the Canadian subarctic in Nunavut and Northwest Territories, where she developed a love of hardy plants and animals thriving in cold, dry places. In 2019, Helen moved to Jackson and began working for Teton Science Schools as a Field Instructor, marrying her passions for science and the natural world with her experiences leading in outdoor education. With this unique landscape and its wild inhabitants in the foreground, she has since had the opportunity to connect with hundreds of visitors in this spectacular ecosystem. When not out inspecting nooks and crannies of high alpine environments for hidden wildflowers, Helen enjoys trail running, cooking colorful meals, backcountry skiing, and learning about the ever-evolving intersections between people and the environment in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
AnnaLisa first began to develop a love and enthusiasm for the practice of Natural History from a childhood spent immersed in the Northwoods of Vermont. With studies completed in Ecology and Environmental Humanities at Sterling College, AnnaLisa has since served with nonprofit environmental education organizations in diverse ecosystems across the country, worked as a college field instructor, and most recently as an NPS Wilderness Education Ranger. Passionate about experiential learning and the confluence of art, culture, and ecology, AnnaLisa enjoys getting to know the things that are sometimes overlooked and sharing them with others. In addition to flipping through field guides, she can be found playing music, riding her bike, and embarking on extended backcountry expeditions.
Hometown: Jupiter, Florida
Favorite animal in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem: Great Grey Owl
Keith grew up in Jupiter, Florida where he spent most of his time exploring the ecosystems in and around the Everglades. At a young age, Keith was exposed to many national parks and public lands around the southwest and Rocky Mountain regions. Keith went on to earn a degree in environmental studies with minors in geology and interdisciplinary studies at Florida Gulf Coast University. After graduating, Keith worked as a Geoscientist-in-the-Parks intern at Bryce Canyon National Park. This led to a seasonal position as an interpretative park ranger with the National Park Service. Keith has worked several seasons at Bryce Canyon and two seasons at Grand Teton National Park. When he’s not guiding, Keith can be found photographing wildlife, backpacking, bird watching, fly fishing, or playing guitar.
Hometown: Ann Arbor, Michigan
Favorite animal: River otter
Born and raised in Michigan, Sam spent her childhood dreaming of the mountains and vast deserts of the American West. As an adult, she moved to California to study at the University of San Diego. During that time, Sam began teaching wilderness skills and leading outdoor adventure trips throughout the Southwest.
Sam went on to work as a naturalist in Southeast Alaska’s temperate rainforest ecosystem, guiding river trips and leading backcountry expeditions throughout the The Last Frontier State and Canada.
The next stop on Sam’s journey was Wyoming, where Sam moved in 2018 for a dream job with Teton Science Schools. She has since become an active volunteer Firefighter & EMT with Jackson Hole Fire/EMS.
Sam is passionate about experiential education, backcountry medicine, and science communication. She loves to share those passions with others, including sharing her love for the GYE!
In her free time, you can find Sam writing, trying to finish a crossword, or exploring a national park.
Hometown: Franklin, MA
Favorite animal in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE): Grizzly bear
Jeff grew up exploring the forests, mountains, and coastlines of New England and graduated with a degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Conservation from the University of Massachusetts. He began his outdoor career track working with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the National Park Service. Jeff moved to Jackson in 2015 to work with the Teton Science Schools and has worked as a field instructor and wildlife guide. During the summer season, Jeff works for the National Park Service, having worked at parks in Boston and Colorado, as well as both Grand Teton and Yellowstone. In his free time, Jeff enjoys fly-fishing, hiking, skiing, and wildlife photography.
Favorite animal in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem: Beaver