Hello all!
Welcome to our first post about the adventures of in-school Mountain SOL day at MLA, told from the point of view of storyteller and tangent-extraordinaire Jen-Osha!
The brief version: tomorrow is our first day of in-school Mountain SOL at MLA. We will be starting off the year learning about mountains! Please be sure your adventurer is dressed to get muddy and with appropriate shoes to walk up our mountain! Our teachers for this first trimester include Mr. Jason, Ms. Lauren, and myself along with Leslie, Jeff, and Angie; our intrepid parent volunteers!
The long and windy version: I also work at the WVU Center for Resilient Communities (WVU CRC) and I previously did graduate research around montane ecosystems. This year I am helping to organize youth involvement in the United Nations International Year of Sustainable Mountain Development through the WVU CRC and I’m bringing together all of my roles at MLA, Mtn SOL, and WVU to make it the most exciting for our young people. The funny thing is that 20 years ago before I was a mom, I actually participated in the first International Year of the Mountain in France! What a crazy and synchronistic turn of events that I now get to be a part of it again… and what a blessing to be in a position to share it with so many young people!
Also, I have to address the elephant in the room…. so what in the world is my name? Well, at this point I have several. I used to teach Spanish, so I was Señora Jen. Then I taught music and was Ms. Jen. Now the kids think it is SO funny to call me Ms. Señora Jen. Our older Mtn SOL students and staff call me Loba. I’m published under Dr. Jen Osha. My actual name is Jen Osha Buysse (Jen OHsha BUYsee.) My preference is Jen-Osha all mushed together (that is why I put a hyphen there).
So here it is: Ms Jen-Osha, Señora Jen-Osha, or “Loba” HA. The choice is yours!
So to recap, tomorrow will be amazing. Our kids will have fun and get dirty. And you can call me some collection of the names above. As we go through the year, if you have ideas just share them to me at jenosha@mountainsol.org. I love collaboration and also believe that parents might just want to have some fun, too.
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