WES Community
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About Us
About WES Community
Founded in 2012, Whiskeytown Environmental School Community (WES Community) is a non-profit organization 501 (c)(3) that supports the outdoor education and science mission of Whiskeytown Environmental School (WES). The 2018 Carr Fire burned facilities at the school and closed the site. As a result, WES Community now serves as the fundraising partner for the rebuild of WES.
Many of us are former WES employees and resource professionals. We are all passionate supporters of outdoor education! Anecdotal feedback from students, teachers, and parents, as well as research support the effectiveness of outdoor education in learning the scientific principles that govern our environment and for the development of students’ social and emotional skills.
In 2019, WES Community provided $11,325 in student scholarships for a final year of outdoor education at the Lassen Pines Conference Center in Viola, California. This assistance helped six local schools close their fundraising gaps and provided students with a week of outdoor education.
WES Community partners with Whiskeytown NRA to co-sponsor the ongoing Redbud Recovery Project. The project provides an artistic and emotional venue to park staff and the community at large to recover from the effects of the Carr Fire.
WES Community is cooperating with the CREEC Network, SCOE, and the NPS in the NorCal Environmental Literacy Synthesis. This 3-year environmental literacy project trains educational leaders and increases the use of environmental literacy as part of science education. WES Community board members and liaisons are partnering as instructors.
Our Mission
Whiskeytown Environmental School Community (WES Community) exists to support educational goals through immersive outdoor experiences for learners at Whiskeytown Environmental School (WES). WES Community contributes to the school’s mission through advocacy and relationship building with communities, businesses and public agencies to generate funds and further shared goals.
WES Community News
Rotary Club of Redding Supports WES
Rotary Club of Redding presented WES Community with funds for the “Bunkbed Challenge” pledged on Giving Tuesday, 2022. The Club donated $2,502, a gift that will purchase three additional bunkbed units, sleeping six children. This donation helped us fulfill our...
Redding Elks Lodge Gift to WES Community
Lodge #1073 has generously donated to the “Grow Back Stronger” Campaign to rebuild Whiskeytown Environmental School. The Elks Club Board of Directors voted to award a $3,000 gift for new student housing. We are tremendously grateful for this gift which was...
WES Community Awarded Gift
WES Community has been awarded a $217,756 gift by the Community Foundation of the North State. The gift was awarded from the Community Disaster Relief Fund and will be used to for the "Grow Back Stronger" capital campaign launched in July, 2022. The Grow Back Stronger...
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Thank you so much for letting me come to the wonderful Whiskeytown Environmental school itself. I had so much fun hiking, learning, and being there at WES camp. I will never forget my once-in-a-lifetime experience. One day I hope to see Whiskeytown Enviormental [sic] School and my naturalist, Antalope [sic] Andy, again.