The Western Hemlocks marched one-by-one through the forest and toward the water.

Then, something strange happened — members of the group noticed their namesake dangling its branches in the middle of the trail.

“This is a Western Hemlock,” said Emily Mendell, the group’s leader. “It’s easy to tell what these are because they have three different-sized needles.”

The hemlocks — known to their parents as fifth-graders at Centennial Elementary School in Mount Vernon — then passed a small hemlock branch down the line.

“All of the small groups have a name — it’s just something that they can use to relate to,” Centennial fifth-grade teacher John Lahey said.

The seven hemlocks, along with the entire Centennial fifth-grade class, took nature in last week during the school’s annual trip to Mountain School.

The school, located on Diablo Lake east of Newhalem, gives students a chance to learn about the natural world, Mountain School coordinator Jenny Cloutier said.

“It’s hands-on education,” Cloutier said. “Many of the kids from Mount Vernon have never got to experience these types of things on their own.”

A sustainable program?

Future Mount Vernon fifth-graders may not be so lucky.

Funding for Mount Vernon students to attend Mountain School may be difficult to come by next year, Superintendent Carl Bruner said. Costs for the program — about $60,000 per year — will not come from the district’s basic education budget starting in the 2009-2010 school year.

Rather, funding for schools’ annual educational trip will have to be secured through other means. If those sources can not be found, local students may no longer have a chance to head to the hills.

Bruner said dwindling district revenue and a potential $3.2 billion state budget deficit by 2011 have had an effect on many programs, including Mountain School.

He said that district officials and school board members have made an effort to maintain arts, music and outdoor education despite funding issues.

“For grade five, we’re obligated to provide that environmental education, but that doesn’t have to be Mountain School,” Bruner said. “But we certainly hope to be able to retain it.”

State law requires all fifth-grade students receive specific instruction on “science with special reference to the environment” and “the worth of kindness to all living creatures and the land.”

The district has been sending fifth-graders from its six elementary schools for about 15 years.

Mount Vernon is the only Skagit County school district currently enrolled in the environmental education school, which is a joint program organized by North Cascades National Park and the North Cascades Institute.

Each year the district negotiates a contract with the institute to send its students to Mountain School, which takes place at the institute’s Environmental Learning Center.

The center was originally built mostly with funds from Seattle City Light in the early 1990s, and Mountain School has been in operation since then.

Cloutier said Mount Vernon pays about $65 per student — only about 20 percent of Mountain School’s full price. The district must also fund staff to attend with students, plus transportation up to Mountain School, which is about 75 miles east of Mount Vernon.

A number of parent chaperones help defray those costs, Lahey said.

“North Cascades has worked hard to help defray costs,” Bruner said. “What we pay is a small portion compared to the overall cost.”

Laughter and learning

Students in Mount Vernon typically head up to Mountain School during October. Last week, students from Centennial laughed and learned during their three-day stay.

After the students’ orientation on their first day, they broke up into smaller groups and took a namesake.

Each group has an instructor responsible for each day’s activities. Some instructors are graduate students from Western Washington University, while others are North Cascades National Park Rangers.

Mendell, in her first year with Mountain School, was in charge of the hemlocks, and led the group throughout Mountain School’s numerous trails’ and facilities during Centennial’s first day.

“It’s a great experience — it’s a lot of hard work but it’s very rewarding,” said Mendell during a short break.

During the outdoor excursion, students are encouraged to learn about nature while making the least impact on the environment.

Before the students hit the trails, they were briefed on the basics of natural bathroom etiquette.

Mendell pulled out her “nature’s calling” bag, which consisted of a shovel, toilet paper, plastic bags and hand sanitizer.

“There’s everything here you could possibly need,” she told the students, who gathered around her in a circle. “There’s nothing to be embarrassed about — it’s completely natural.”

Most of the three days are spent in nature. The majority of students’ time is devoted to hiking and field study, while evenings are spent taking part in performances and wildlife programs in front of a campfire.

On the last day, students have a closing circle, where they are given a piece of red cedar, which they make a selfless wish upon. That stem is then placed in the camp fire.

“It’s a good way to bring meaning to them,” Lahey said.

The time is now

The district may be running out of time if officials hope to keep students at Mountain School next year.

Lahey, who has been involved in the planning process for Mountain School for the past seven years, said the institute needs a commitment from the district by December as to whether Mount Vernon students will be attending Mountain School next year.

District officials are currently in the midst of looking and applying for grants to offset the costs, Lahey said, but so far nothing has been set in stone.

One possibility could be joining up with other area districts to help split the program’s cost and increase the chances of obtaining grant money.

“These grants could benefit not just students from Mount Vernon, but other schools as well,” Lahey said.

He said staff will likely form a committee to explore the funding dilemma further, and could seek input from parents of current fourth-graders about next year’s funding challenge.

“We really want to make it work for the Mount Vernon kids,” Cloutier said. “They’re the kids we want to do this for.”