Aptos High School
(Pajaro Valley Unified School District)
100 Mariner Way
Aptos, CA 95003
gmcbride@aptoshs.net
Outdoor pedagogy & thoughts about host
All students are extraordinarily intelligent. They are intelligent in many different ways. It is our job as teachers to discover the best way for each student to learn and express what they have learned. It is also a teacher’s task to seek out resources and opportunities for our students. One thing I’ve learned from [HOST] is how to conduct open ended field work where students answer their own questions via research projects.
I recommend this program to anyone interested in access to protected places and willing to put time in. The infrastructure of HOST and the NRS reserves makes it easy. It’s not like camping. You can spend a minimal amount of time keeping house and spend lots of time learning. I got the perfect amount of support from researchers. I enjoyed checking in with other teachers, stuffing animals, netting bats, radio-tracking island foxes, and scoping out sites to take my students on Santa Cruz Island and in the water. I had great experiences with the manager, Lyndal Laughrin, but I also enjoyed spending time alone. We were a perfect fit, and I loved the experience. I can’t wait to go back there with my students.
Biography
HOST Training Site:
NRS’s Santa Cruz Island reserve (administered by UCSB) off the coast of Santa Barbara County.
HOST Program Emphases:
Radio-tracking and monitoring island foxes, intertidal and underwater observing, studying and observing endemic species, and capturing golden eagles for a relocation program.
HOST Teaching Materials:
• Secrets in a Grain of Sand
Other Teaching Materials:
• Scientific Illustration Lesson Plan available at http://www.aptoshs.net/~gmcbride/
Selection of Awards:
• Graduate certificate in scientific illustration from UC Santa Cruz
• Series of teacher training over the last ten years at the Monterey Bay Aquarium
Years Teaching: 20+
Subjects Taught:
• Marine Biology
• Biology
• Scientific Illustration
Favorite Sayings:
“Entropy Rules”
“Why five?”
“The organism is always right.”
Hobbies:
• Coach rugby for under 19 year old club
• Illustrating marine organisms
• Dive, surf, kayak in the ocean