The Magic of Bear Hollow

Once you've set foot in the Bear Hollow Natural Area where the Ozark Natural Science Center delivers life-altering experiences each and every day, you understand clearly that this is a special place.

Obviously, however, one of the things that makes this place magical is our remote location, so many people never have the opportunity to set foot out here and experience that magic.  We've launched a new program called ONSC Corps (see previous blog post: http://bit.ly/ceRTIq) for people who care passionately about ONSC but can't necessarily drop by to support us with their volunteer efforts.  Otherwise, however, our reputation rests solely on good word of mouth and raving reviews from the kids who visit ONSC and come home raving to their families.

Hopefully, of course, our newly-relaunched website (www.onsc.us) as well as our social media presence (http://bit.ly/cWSHF5) and plenty of increased public awareness (http://bit.ly/asGAlu) all help people who care about sustainability, environmental education and outreach, conservation, the Ozarks and so many other special places on earth stay connected with our mission.  This blog is intended to be one more tool in that toolkit - a way for people who have experienced ONSC as campers or students, parents, chaperones, teachers, donors, stakeholders or ardent supporters - to keep up with what we're doing even when you can't be here with us.

So, please take a moment to follow this blog and read a few past posts, and while you're at it, subscribe to our e-newsletter: http://bit.ly/b9ju4x.  Then, sit back and humor us as we tell you a few stories about why this place is special.  Even better, share your own!

Take What You Need

One of the stories that stands out as most significant when we're visiting with others about ONSC's work is our mantra of "Take what you need and eat what you take."  If there is one thing that sinks in with kids when they visit ONSC, it's this striking lesson about reducing waste.

Our Teacher Naturalists talk with the kids about taking portions they can eat, finishing them and then returning for seconds, and they encourage them to eliminate or at least limit their waste scraped into the compost bucket.  It becomes a virtual competition as the kids work to scrape their plates clean.

One morning, we had a high-energy group of kids here who had just completed their first night stay, meaning they had already eaten a couple of meals on site and learned the drill.  At breakfast that morning, there was an enormous heap of really good-looking bananas out on the buffet line, and the kids eyed them but passed them up.  Finally, one of our instructors observed this and the pieces visibly fell into place as she realized what was happening.

When she announced that banana peels wouldn't count against them in the compost bucket/food waste tally, there was a mad rush for the bananas.  It was a fantastic illustration of how malleable students are in an environment like ONSC - they truly take away life lessons related not just to conservation and the environment, but also to ethics, finding their place in the world, the right way to treat one another and making a positive mark.  That's what we're all about.