A note from Friends of Cedar Mesa’s Education Director Sarah Burak…
Information is power. I absolutely believe this. Having served as an educator in many roles – an outdoor educator, an interpretive ranger at Natural Bridges and Canyonlands, an elementary school teacher in Bluff – I understand how sharing knowledge has the power to change perspectives and behaviors. It’s why I’m deeply passionate about Friends of Cedar Mesa’s educational initiatives to help protect this landscape, and I’m thankful for our supporters who see the value in education as a tool for preservation.
VWR Ambassadors outside of the BEEC.
Beginning my time with Friends of Cedar Mesa during a pandemic has not been easy, but I’m filled with gratitude for our volunteers and new Education Center manager, Sylvia Taylor, who helped successfully reopen the Bears Ears Education Center this fall. It certainly takes a team to tackle the heavy lift of keeping the doors open five days a week, 8 hours a day – but there is no doubt, it’s worth it! In fact, we welcomed about 2,000 people and hosted three educational talks (two safely in-person) in just a few short months this fall. Between March and November of this year, we had the opportunity to speak to roughly 250 students and educators.
With the future of our education program in mind, we also started construction on an outdoor pavilion that will house new exhibits
Volunteers building the outdoor pavilion at the Bears Ears Education Center. dedicated to the paleontology and geology of Bears Ears and serve as a space to launch a new youth education program to engage students in area schools. Over eight days, a group of dedicated volunteers helped us raise the structure, and we are now one step closer to turning the vision for an outdoor classroom into a reality!
We’re grateful for our supporters who are committed to furthering this work, and we are endlessly thankful for the volunteers who contributed 1,271 hours at the Education Center this year.
Meanwhile, we’re working to expand the reach of Visit with Respect. In 2021, we designed and placed nearly 10 large visitor information signs at sites and trailheads across the region bearing important Visit with Respect information, and we’re looking forward to new VWR collaborations in 2022!
Diné artist Venaya Yazzie painting the new mural in Bluff.
Beyond the traditional ways to educate visitors, I’m proud to say we’re getting creative. This year we worked with Diné artist Venaya Yazzie to place a large Visit with Respect mural on the building next door to the education center. This stunning work will help inspire reverence for the landscape and remind those traveling through that Bears Ears is a sacred place and the greatest care must be taken when visiting.
I believe these educational efforts, along with that of our Visit with Respect Ambassadors, are changing the way visitors view this landscape and spend time exploring it. It is making a difference, and you can too.
I know many of you have contributed this holiday season, and for that I am grateful. If you have not, I humbly ask that you support our unique educational efforts with a year-end gift to Friends of Cedar Mesa. We are the only organization doing this extensive educational work in southeastern Utah, and we cannot do it alone.
Peace and Love–
Sarah Burak, Education Director
