Summer 2018 EditionAlumni & Friends Magazine
Connecting Mountains
Three years ago, Ralph Haberfeld, AB ’69, had an epiphany that has connected two distinct, picturesque places: Athens, Ohio, in the Appalachian foothills, and Jackson Hole, bordering western Wyoming’s Teton peaks.
Jennifer Shutt Bowie, BSJ ’94, MS ’99 | August 17, 2018
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This story begins with Haberfeld’s 1965 arrival in Athens. As a sophomore, he’s selected as an OHIO Fellow, a program that develops exceptional students as leaders. The program’s faculty “redirected my ambitions, and that changed everything,” says Haberfeld, who recently retired from a career in finance and marketing.
Meanwhile, in 1967, science teacher Ted Major starts a field ecology school in the Tetons. “[Ted] felt that situating learning out-of-doors would be more successful,” said Kevin Krasnow, graduate faculty at what is now the Teton Science Schools (TSS).
The Appalachians and Tetons inch closer in 1975 when Haberfeld and his wife, Louise, vacation in Yellowstone National Park.
Ralph Haberfeld, AB ’69, (center) helps students identify an osprey at Oxbow Bend. Students analyzed the bird’s features—coloring, habitat, and behavior—using scopes and binoculars and, then, hypothesized the species using reference books.
Time passes. In 2004 the Haberfelds retire part-time to a Jackson Hole community where TSS owns dedicated open space. “We were wandering around the property, ran into people from TSS, and realized we were kindred spirits,” says Haberfeld.
During the next decade, the Haberfelds serve on TSS’s board of directors and support the OHIO Fellows, which relaunches in 2013 after a 42-year hiatus.
It didn’t take Haberfeld long to think, “Gee. The science school does a lot of leadership training. I wonder if they would be willing to link up with the new OHIO Fellows?”
That connection was 50 years in the making.
Each year TSS provides 15,000 pre-K to 95-year-old students with place-based education in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
Place-based education proffers “that community and place—[and] anything happening in that place—can be harnessed as a backdrop for learning,” says Krasnow. “Linking the classroom with community increases students’ engagement, content knowledge, and community connections.”
Students celebrate completing a "human knot" challenge in an aspen grove near the TSS Kelly Campus.
Madeline Peck (left) and Imani Evans observe a macroinvertebrate collected from (and returned to) a stream. near Black Tail Pond in Grand Teton National Park during a watershed field-research project.
TSS faculty member Kevin Krasnow leads OHIO Fellows and Boyd Scholars on an educational, team-building hike up Lobo Hill near Kelly, Wyoming.
Haberfeld’s epiphany—a connection between mountain ranges and educational institutions—plus his financial support, creates the OHIO/TSS May Program in 2016.
“Ralph is the reason that [OHIO Fellows and Margaret Boyd Scholars] are able to take advantage of TSS,” said Jerry Miller of OHIO’s Scripps College of Communication’s School of Communication Studies. “[Student]…participants engage each other with compassion and an understanding of how we are all part of a much larger system.”
Haberfeld says, “For me as a donor…it was…killing two birds with one stone. A big piece of the Fellows is opening the eyes of young people to the opportunities of a much bigger world. Just being able to come and see this place…supports lots of things that I believe in.”
The May Program students “go deeper into “how learning [about ecology] applies to interactions in human systems,” Krasnow says. “They will leave this program…with better connections and stronger friendships in their communities than when they came.”
Feature photo: Grace Cahill spots birds at Oxbow Bend in Grand Teton National Park—a popular fauna-spotting location—while Lou Duloisy watches Mount Moran emerge from behind the morning fog. Photos by Jennifer Shutt Bowie, BSJ ’94, MS ’99