Discover Isothermal Snow – And Why Every Kid Needs SnowSchool
A touch of winter wonder from SnowSchool
Photo by Sam Ferguson
Kerry McClay, National SnowSchool Director
March 19, 2026
Today brings us into the final hours of winter– the cusp of a new season! And as our SnowSchool outings move into the spring, our students are discovering isothermal snowpack conditions with increasing frequency. This is the warm-weather phenomenon of a snowpack with a singular temperature (0°C) all the way through, and it’s an indication that the active melting phase is upon us. Water. It’s essential to all, and in mountain communities of the Western US, upwards of 80% of it starts as snow. Making this snow-to-water connection for thousands of kids is just one way SnowSchool is working to build ecological literacy and an appreciation for the value of our public winter wildlands.
Here at SnowSchool, we also believe the program addresses an urgent social problem. For decades, parents, educators, and researchers have been bringing needed attention to the growing disconnection between children and nature. In the 2024 wake-up call, The Anxious Generation, the warnings are increasingly dire. Today, the average American child plays outside for only 10 minutes a day but logs 44 hours of screen time a week. And the consequences are negatively impacting kids’ mental health.
Through SnowSchool, we are working to counteract this trend by immersing kids in their local winter wildlands (many for the first time), getting them off screens and active during the winter months when they are most often sedentary. As one educator and parent said after a field trip in early March 2026, “Today I learned that every kid needs SnowSchool!”
There’s a long way to go still, but your support is helping us work toward that goal.
Keep reading for winter updates and good news from across the SnowSchool network. And see it in action yourself with three fun videos of student investigations into snow temperature.
Winter Recaps from the national SnowSchool network
“Sooo many parents wrote to me saying how much fun their child had snowshoeing. They were so happy their child got to participate in something “outside the box” at school.”
“I cannot say enough how fantastic yesterday was. Often, events like this struggle to reach kids of this age, and you knocked it out of the park. Stories at their level, the PUPPETS, and that understanding that exploring the outdoors may not always look like learning, but it is. Thank you a million times for helping our students have an amazing day in the snow. They had too much fun to even be very disappointed about not wearing snowshoes.”
– Elementary teacher from Dayton Elementary, Dayton, MT (after a day of SnowSchool at Glacier National Park)
“I am grateful our students are able to have these experiences and get outside, even in winter. They really have enjoyed learning to snowshoe and being able to play in the snow!”
-Parent chaperone after a 4th-grade SnowSchool field trip at Stokes Nature Center in Logan, UT
-Parent chaperone after a 4th-grade SnowSchool field trip at Stokes Nature Center in Logan, UT
(A new SnowSchool site in 2026 and Pennsylvania’s first ever!)
“I had several kids exclaim “that’s so cool!” and “science is awesome!” when we did a snowflake lesson and examined snowflakes under microscopes. These were primarily 6th grade boys who seemed more interested in playing in the snow than learning – at first. But once they were able to see the snowflakes up close, everything changed.”
– Anne Gageby, Director of Environmental Education, Strawberry Hill
Photo by Heidi Lupo, Pinecrest Expedition Academy
“The snow pack might be thin, but the kids at Pinecrest Expedition Academy are always excited for ongoing snow pit analysis and snow science programs.”
-Heidi Lupo, Executive Director Pinecrest Expedition Academy, Strawberry CA
Photo by Cascadia Conservation District
“Our kids in the Snow Program is only possible due to the collaborative partnership of multiple organizations. We have all contributed human material and financial resources so that over 600 students each year get to go snowshoeing and explore and investigate the importance of snow as a natural resource, upon which the 5Fs are dependent: Fish, Farms, Forest, Families, and Fun.”
– Kirk Beckendorf, Environmental Educator at the SnowSchool site at Cascadia Conservation District, Wenatchee WA
At the Sierra Watershed Education Partnerships (SWEP) Winter Discovery Center in Tahoe City, they’ve introduced hundreds of kids this season in the Tahoe Truckee area to snow science.
“Students measure the weight of snow using density cutters to calculate the snow water equivalent. Through this hands-on snowpack investigation students make connections between snow and the water supply and the importance of protecting water as a natural resource.”
-Nick Mitchell, Field Instructor at SWEP, Tahoe City CA
We do a classroom visit with schools before they go on a field trip with us in order to best prepare them for the field. In this photo we’re demonstrating how different fabric types are better at insulating heat while wet (so they come prepared for being in the snow for a couple of hours and not in jeans).
“We’re so grateful to be able to take kids out on snowshoes to do real science. It really connects the dots for them to understand the complexities of our home ecosystem when they get to be out in it and making observations for themselves. For many of our students, this is the first time they’ve gotten to see it like this.”
-Adriana Stimax, San Juan Mountains Association, Durango CO
Here’s what we got as thanks from our first school this winter, on the back of a beautiful colored pencil drawing of Lake Tahoe by a fifth grader:
“Thank you for teaching us and providing us with snowshoes. We really had fun in all the activities. You guys are amazing leaders and are so much fun.”
“My son had SOOO much fun. He is now taking me cross-country skiing this weekend for the first time, and we can’t wait… thanks so much SVS.”
“I love how kids get outside, put on fun equipment they probably have never used, get to touch real scientific tools, and learn about the environment they live in. They loved building the snow pit, using scientific tools, and seeing that a whole water bottle of snow actually does not result in that much water.”
“We led snowshoe hikes and used the snowshoes we got from SnowSchool to hike with both adults and kids! We got a lot of new people snowshoeing, and they loved it!
“One of the best parts of SnowSchool is that during inversion periods like we’ve had the last two weeks, we are able to get the kids out of the muck and breathing clean air. Its good for me and my staff as well!”
Despite a difficult weather year, we have had a great season for Discover Your Northwest’s Project SNOW programs! One of our volunteer rangers had this to say about the program,
“After the safety talk, I ask my group to think about things that they learned on the hike and when they turn in their snowshoes, I ask them to tell me one thing that they learned. The answers are often repeating the person in line ahead of them, but every day at least one student looks at me with a big smile and states a specific thing that they learned and that gives me great joy.”
One of our biggest highlights of the year was getting to collaborate with David Hill from OSU and the Community Snow Observations group to do some more snow science with our students!
“Snow shelters help us achieve our biggest goals with SnowSchool: helping kids create positive experiences outside while learning science. Quinzhees show students how snow bonds in real time, it teaches them about structural integrity, and about how snow can act as an insulator. It’s also just a really fun activity that kids look forward to.”
“Watching as kids make the connection between the snow that they are trekking in this winter and the water in the rivers they play in this summer is such a wonderful teaching moment!”
“We are having a great winter this year- it’s currently dumping! Although the week of the snowshoeing field trips was rainy- haha! The kids still loved it!”
5th grade students from Kootenai Elementary measure the recent storm event and total snowpack depth during their recent fieldwork portion of their SnowSchool Experience! – Northern Idaho Flagship SnowSchool Site, Selkirk Outdoor Leadership and Education, Sandpoint Idaho
SnowSchool students from Plumas Unified School District measuring snow water content in Lassen Volcanic National Park, CA.
“We were blessed with over 4 feet of snow last weekend and able to teach a “science-on-snow” day at the Lobo trailhead (on Wolf Creek pass). It was the first time ever snowshoeing for all of my students and they had a blast (they are very sore today…)!” Kelle Bruno, Pagosa Peak Open School, Pagosa Springs CO
“Thanks for the fleet of snowshoes from WWA and all the SnowSchool resources to help get our site started… we engaged our first groups this winter!”
Jackie Katchmar, Lake Cascade State Park, Idaho
*Big thanks to our friends at the Idaho Youth Sports Commission for their ongoing help getting youth snowshoes out to kids in rural communities!
“This year’s Winter Wildlands Alliance Backcountry Film Festival was a great success and raised over $10,000 for our SnowSchool program (a partnership between Friends of the Inyo and Sierra Forever) ensuring that our local students can continue experiencing the magic of the mountains through hands-on environmental education.”
– Jeff Gabriel, Bishop CA
“Even dogs get to participate in The Lands Council’s SnowSchool program!”
– Kat Hall, The Lands Council, Spokane WA
Photo Credit Montana Discovery Foundation “Our SnowSchool students were able to take what they learned about snowpack and SNOTEL sites and apply it to their daily lives. Many of them come from ranching and farming families, so they could see firsthand how this year’s snowpack affects water resources and what that means for their livelihoods.”
— Mari Lin Carroll, SnowSchool Educator, Montana Discovery Foundation
