Save Mount Diablo’s Latest Diablo Conservation Experiences
Recently, Save Mount Diablo welcomed students from Pittsburg and Concord High Schools to our Mangini Ranch Educational Preserve to participate in our Diablo Conservation Experience program.
We’ve brought 159 students to Mangini Preserve to experience the program so far this spring, forging a deeper and meaningful connection to nature within the next generation.
This was the first time Concord High School participated in our program, and they made an impact, bringing 113 students outside. It was the largest group of students to visit the preserve in the program’s history.
In addition to the Concord High students, 46 Pittsburg High students joined us!
The day at Mangini Preserve was divided into two main parts: a stewardship project, and a solo in the shade of the preserve’s oaks.
The stewardship project was focused on clearing and maintaining hiking trails to make Mangini Preserve safer and more accessible for years to come.
Tools in hand, the students hiked up Mangini Preserve’s hills and got to work, digging, scraping, and leveling the path.
Their efforts paid off, unearthing significant stretches of trails that had been covered by grass.
In addition to the service project, the contemplative solo is central to our Diablo Conservation Experience program.
The reflective solo experience at Mangini Preserve. Photo by Mary Nagle
Students sat in silence in the shade of Mangini’s oaks, journaling their experiences and feelings in nature.
After the solo, they gathered, reflected on the experience, and shared their inspiring journal entries. Many students left the experience with a notable change in perspective and a new connection with nature.
Save Mount Diablo was honored to host several students with physical and mental support needs during the Concord High School field trips. We provided modified programming to allow them the same access to this meaningful opportunity.
Thank you to the Pittsburg and Concord High School students who came out to our Mangini Ranch Educational Preserve to connect with nature and give back!
Read two inspiring student journal entries below:
Poems by Concord and Pittsburg High School students that they created during the Diablo Conservation Experience solo in nature. The text is also available below. Photos: Ted Clement
Rainbow
Nature is a living, interconnected world where everything is related. From trees and rivers to the sky and sail, everything is part of a vast cycle where flows. Nature is growth, change, and balance between beginnings and endings.
I am also a part of this nature. My breath, my steps, the way I touch the earth and look at the sky—all of these connect me to this living world.
I can learn from nature, care for it and live in harmony with it because my existence, just like the trees, rivers, and birds, is an essential part of this greater whole. =)
Threads of the Wild: My Place in Nature
Nature is the river’s song,
the mountain high, the bird’s first dawn.
It’s whispered winds through ancient trees,
the crash of waves, the hum of bees.
It’s sunlight dancing on the sea,
the quiet hush of falling leaves.
It’s every breath, both wild & free,
the endless sky, the air we breathe.
But what am I within this grand,
unfolding life of sea and land?
A fleeting spark, a voice, a thread,
A beating heart where roots are spread.
I am the hands that touch the earth,
the steps that echo life’s own worth.
I am the keeper, not the king,
a part of all, in everything
Save Mount Diablo’s Mangini Ranch Educational Preserve can be reserved for for groups of three to 100 people and they can have it to themselves for a day. Photo: Cooper Ogden
