Trip to Gold Rush discovery site engages Prestwood students

Prestwood Elementary School fourth-graders were already excited about participating in an overnight trip to the spot where gold was discovered in California. And once they began to feel snow falling on their faces when they arrived, their enthusiasm overflowed.

“One day, it was hailing, with some small snowflakes,” said Katie Grimes, a fourth-grade teacher at Prestwood who accompanied students and parents on the trip. “A lot of the students had never seen snowfall from the sky.”

This captured the spirit of the trip, which were joined by students from Nichole Roberts’ fourth-grade class at Prestwood as they participated in the resort’s Coloma Outdoor Discovery School, situated on the banks of the South Fork American River, northwest of Placerville. In all, 39 students participated in the trip, which took place on Feb. 21 and 22.

“I also liked seeing new things I haven’t seen before, like big mountains, and being able to hike up the mountain,” student Sofia Gaytan-Quackenbush said. “I’ve never been in a cabin before, and that was really fun.”

On the field trip, students visited Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park, across from the resort. A worker constructing Sutter’s Mill, James W. Marshall, discovered gold there in 1848, sparking the California Gold Rush. The park contains a replica of the mill.

“Students were surprised that the real Sutter’s Mill no longer exists, and many were shocked that it had been run by only four people,” Roberts said.

Many of the students became even more engaged as they panned for glittering gold.

“First, you dip in the water and collect sand, and then you shake it 10 times, like an earthquake,” student Ethan Strand said. “Then you swirl it and make a tsunami, and after that you keep repeating it over and over until you find gold. It was fun.”

Ethan did indeed find a bit of gold, as did some other students, including Emmet Margrieter.

“The thing I liked the most about the trip probably was the gold panning, because I was able to find gold,” he said. “And we learned about all the different machines they used in the Gold Rush. The tool they used for hydraulic mining was the most interesting: It’s like a machine that shoots water at the rocks.”

Students also heard a presentation from a local Native American speaker about the Gold Rush’s impact on their community and the Coloma Valley environment.

“Through traditional stories, he reminded students that we need to take care of our environment,” Grimes said. “He also showed them traditional Native American dress, sang traditional songs and talked about the traditional dance that they can still take part in today.”

During a dinner, one student came up to Grimes, gave her a hug and thanked her for the trip.

“I was expecting it to be really boring and I was nervous about being away from home, but I am having a lot of fun and I wish I could stay longer,” the student said.

The trip was made possible through a $2,000 Classroom Grant from the Sonoma Valley Education Foundation.

Roberts said that the teachers applied for the grant to help reduce the cost for Prestwood families.

“Outdoor education can be very expensive,” she said. “Our trip to Coloma can be anywhere from $200 to $300 per student.”

Classroom grants for field trip have been in exceptionally high demand.

“Since August, we have approved 71 Classroom Grant requests — and over one-third of them have been for field trips,” said Gail Chadwin, the foundation’s director of development. “We hear from teachers that many local families cannot afford to pay for these field trips out of pocket.”

In August, Sonoma Valley Education Foundation had $50,000 available to fund Classroom Grants for teachers in the 2022-23 academic year.

“But due to overwhelming demand from local teachers and rising costs of materials and field trips due to inflation, our entire Classroom Grants budget has already been spent — and we still have teachers asking for help,” Chadwin said. “Sonoma Valley Education Foundation is raising funds to help make more grants available so that no teachers’ requests will be denied due to a lack of funds. We are grateful to our generous community for continuing to step up and help our teachers and students.”

Reach the reporter, Dan Johnson, at daniel.johnson@sonomanews.com.