Story Photos
 Photo by Bill Wagner John Gross shows Mark Morris High School senior Alaina Williams how to use an inclinometer to measure the height of a tree at Wake Robin last week. |
Longview teacher wins Forester of the Year award
Monday, April 17, 2006 6:55 AM PDT
By Hope Anderson
Printable version
E-mail this articleWhen John Gross was in high school, he often spent Saturday afternoons scooping out earth to give a tree a new home. In college, he studied forestry management because he wanted a career "where I was growing things."
Now a teacher in the Longview School District, he's combined these loves by tending young minds of students who explore nature at Wake Robin, the district's 82-acre outdoor school.
His work as Wake Robin's manager recently earned him prestigious accolades: Gross was named the Forester of the Year earlier this month by the Washington State Society of American Foresters. The annual award is given for contributions to the profession and to the community as a whole.
"He has been able to tie his love of professional forestry into education," said Zoanne Aylesworth, who works for the state Department of Natural Resources and chairs the local chapter of the Society of American Foresters. "He reaches out to kids and helps them reach out to the environment surrounding them ... He's doing a very great service to both the kids and to the industry."
Gross' attachment to trees first began taking root at Kelso High School, where his father taught vocational agricultural classes and Gross participated in Future Farmers of America (FFA). After graduating in 1972, he studied forest management at Washington State University.
After earning a bachelor's degree, Gross moved back to the Kelso area, where he worked for 19 years as a forester for International Paper Co., specializing in reforestation.
In 1996, the company sold its West Coast timberlands, and Gross was faced with a career change.
During his years as a forester, his wife, Trudi, a teacher, had recruited him to help at Kelso School District's outdoor school. And he also had taught students about forestry for many years through the local chapter of the Society of American Foresters.
"It was really easy for me to say I'm going to get my master's in teaching," Gross said last week at Wake Robin.
He completed a one-year master's program at Vancouver's City University and was hired to teach at Cascade Middle School.
After the Longview School District acquired Wake Robin in 1996 with a 20-year lease from Joe and Eleanor Lammi, Gross eventually transitioned from a classroom teacher to the full-time manager of the 82-acre outdoor learning center west of Longview.
"This is like the perfect job for me. Most foresters enjoy talking about what they do, but to be able to actually teach your passion, I don't know what gets better than that," said Gross, 52, who has two children. "Then, having 82 acres out here, I can think of myself as a forester still, having some land to manage."
Led by Gross, volunteers cleaned tires and garbage from Coal Creek at Wake Robin, constructed footbridges and fashioned trails through the temperate rain forest. The Lammi's home was converted into a conference center and learning lab.
He now helps out with classes and after-school programs of all ages that come to the center to explore. Last school year, Gross began a new career vocational program, teaching a forestry and natural resources class. He hopes to line up the course with college curriculum so students can earn college credits.
Last fall, Gross also formed a local chapter of FFA, and he took five students to the national convention for an environment and natural resources competition, where the team placed 13th overall, he said.
Of the state forester's award, Gross said he was taken off-guard.
"I guess it goes to show you the value society places on education. ... It's a nice thing to know that it is that important to people."
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