Sierra Nevada Journeys Adds Title Sponsor, SilverSummit Healthplan, to Family STEM Nights

Sierra Nevada Journeys secures its first-ever title sponsor of Family STEM Nights. Dynamic after-school events, Family STEM Nights, bring families together through interactive science activities and an exciting engineering design challenge. These hands-on experiences inspire confidence in students' STEM skills while fostering curiosity and a love of learning.

“We’re thrilled to partner with SilverSummit Healthplan to bring Family STEM Nights to over 45 schools across Northern Nevada this year. This collaboration reflects a shared commitment to engaging families in education and wellness, ultimately enhancing the quality of life for Nevadans,” said Sean Hill, President and CEO of Sierra Nevada Journeys. “Family STEM Nights create meaningful opportunities for students and their families to bond, explore science together, and spark a lifelong love of learning through fun, interactive activities.”

 Students and their families are invited to a dynamic 1.5-hour event at their school, where they dive into the wonders of STEM through interactive science and math stations. These stations showcase captivating concepts like magnetism, surface tension, air quality, local watersheds, natural selection, and engineering. The evening wraps up with an exciting design challenge, where family teams collaborate to tackle hands-on problems, such as building the fastest wind-powered vehicle, designing lunar landers, or constructing the strongest bridge. This unique experience allows students to witness their parents or guardians modeling persistence, creativity, and teamwork while enjoying meaningful, uninterrupted family time.

"Sierra Nevada Journeys has done incredible work with their summer camps, providing unforgettable experiences for our Members. So, when the opportunity to collaborate on Family STEM Nights arose, we knew it was the perfect chance to get involved. At SilverSummit Healthplan, we’re not just committed to providing health insurance to Nevadans — we’re dedicated to supporting their overall well-being. What better way to do that than by bringing families together for a fun, engaging evening of STEM challenges and hands-on learning? We're proud to support this initiative to help inspire the next generation of innovators," said Nicole King, Vice President Community Solutions SilverSummit Healthplan.

With SilverSummit Healthplan as the title sponsor and a $50,000 contribution, Sierra Nevada Journeys is poised to expand the reach and impact of Family STEM Nights, empowering even more families to explore the wonders of science, technology, engineering, and math together. Learn more about Family STEM Nights.

About Sierra Nevada Journeys
Sierra Nevada Journeys, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, delivers innovative outdoor, science-based education to foster critical thinking and inspire resource stewardship. Our programs include classroom and virtual sessions, overnight science camps, teacher development, and parent engagement, providing students with tools for success. Annually, 30,000+ children participate, with 59 percent from financially challenged communities, 59 percent BIPOC, and 15 percent living with disabilities.

Our 515-acre Outdoor Education Camp, located 50 minutes from Reno in Plumas National Forest, serves as a 240-bed facility for customized programs. We emphasize team-building, social-emotional learning, leadership, and environmental education using Next Generation Science Standards and UC Berkeley’s BEETLES pedagogy. 

About SilverSummit Healthplan 
SilverSummit Healthplan (SilverSummit) is a managed care plan that provides health insurance to the people of Nevada. Established in 2017, SilverSummit exists to improve the health of its members through focused, compassionate and coordinated care. SilverSummit is a Centene Corporation company. For more information, visit silversummithealthplan.com or visit silversummithealthplan.com/caringforNV.

Empowering Future Innovators: Girls in STEM Camp Sparks Confidence, Curiosity, and Career Dreams

Camp can be a whirlwind experience, and our Girls in STEM Camp is no exception. On June 7, 2025, campers arrive at our Outdoor Education Camp in Portola — many for the first time where they quickly settle in, form fast friendships with their bunkmates, and immerse themselves in outdoor adventures. From hiking and group skits to scaling our Alpine Tower, they embrace new challenges. But beyond the outdoor excitement, they also connect with inspiring women in STEM careers, opening their eyes to new possibilities for their own futures.

With so much packed into this two-day camp, it’s easy to overlook just how profound an impact this program has. Girls in STEM helps young women envision themselves in fields they may have never considered before. More than just increasing diversity in STEM professions, our program lays the foundation for today’s youth to become well-rounded leaders in the workforce.

At Sierra Nevada Journeys, we believe that access to high-quality, outdoor-based science education is not a luxury but a necessity. And we don’t just say it, we measure it. Pre- and post-camp assessments show that participants leave with not only a greater awareness of STEM careers but also increased confidence in teamwork and a renewed enthusiasm for STEM learning.

Our Girls in STEM Camp wouldn’t be possible without the incredible support of our community. Sponsors like KSI Foundation, NV Energy, Charles River Lab, Aristocrat Gaming, and Sierra Pacific Credit Union generously contribute time and resources. Also, the Nevada Outdoor Education and Recreation Grant Program made it possible for students from low-income backgrounds to attend. Because our community has given so much to ensure the success of this program, we were proud to return the favor by supporting the Nevada Outdoor Education and Recreation Grant Program in its efforts to secure state funding.

On March 3, CEO Sean Hill and other Sierra Nevada Journeys representatives traveled to Carson City, NV, to testify before the Nevada State Legislature in support of AB 108 — a bill aimed at expanding access to outdoor education by reducing financial and logistical barriers. As Sean stated in his testimony before the Assembly Committee on Ways and Means, “This isn’t just about education. It’s also about Nevada’s economic future. Our state is rapidly growing in clean energy, aerospace, and advanced manufacturing — industries that require a strong STEM workforce. Early hands-on STEM engagement builds curiosity, confidence, and essential life skills such as problem-solving, critical thinking, and collaboration; these are qualities that employers seek.” By ensuring that all students — especially those from low-income communities — have access to hands-on science learning, AB108 will help create a more skilled workforce, more engaged citizens, and a stronger Nevada.

As we prepare for the sixth year of Girls in STEM Camp, happening June 7-8, 2025, we are excited for the opportunities awaiting this year’s participants and the bright futures ahead of them. We encourage you to share this program with the young students in your life who are looking for inspiration in STEM. Additionally, we invite you to learn more about the Nevada Outdoor Education and Recreation Grant Program and the lasting impact it is making on Nevada’s youth.

For Sierra Nevada Journeys Participants, Nature Is a Good Classroom

Originally published by Pat Hickey, Author and Columnist, Reno Gazette-Journal, published 12:01 p.m. Nov. 25, 2024 | Updated 12:17 p.m. PT Nov. 25, 2024; https://www.rgj.com/story/opinion/2024/11/25/for-sierra-nevada-journeys-participants-nature-is-a-good-classroom/76571691007/

America’s education system was created in the 1800s. Some would say it’s in need of a tuneup, or even a major rebuild. I’d be one of those. And so are the innovative folks who started Sierra Nevada Journeys, an outdoor learning camp that teaches science utilizing Mother Nature, and life skills using human-created ropes and barriers on challenge courses, to thousands of area students.

Some experts argue that traditional classrooms are considered outdated for children’s education, primarily because they often lack flexibility, fail to cater to individual learning styles, and do not adequately prepare students for the demands of a rapidly changing world which requires skills like critical thinking, collaboration and adaptability — which are not always emphasized in a traditional classroom setting. 

For centuries, children have been confined in crowded classrooms and taught the same standard things: reading, writing, math, science and history. Even though the knowledge and skills gained from these educational building blocks are crucial parts of a young person’s education, they aren’t always best understood in a drab setting seated in confining desks taught by a “sage on the stage,” who can’t possibly paint a picture of biology quite like a meadow and a pond with live tadpoles can.

Founded in 2006, Sierra Nevada Journeys Outdoor Education Camp is located on 515-acres, just north of Reno in Plumas County, California. More than 10,000 students a year from Nevada and northern California attend their innovative outdoor, science-based education programs for youth to “develop critical thinking skills and to inspire natural resource stewardship.” In other words: Kids are out of the classroom, frequently in overnight experiences with their teachers and fellow students learning about nature, and — just as importantly — themselves.

I visited the camp recently and witnessed students and their teachers wandering the nature trails, cleaning the cafeteria where they eat, and navigating rope courses and climbing barriers meant to teach them trust and many of the skills they’ll face later in Real Life 101.

Spending the afternoon interacting with students and staff at the camp, I witnessed an unbridled joy in student groups, some of whom are staying in the camp setting for two nights, unhooked from their cellphones, to the delight of teachers and students alike. Tall trees housing zip line courses and wood bench amphitheaters appear to have more than enough allure — at least for the time being — to cause kids to forgo their constant-companion digital devices. 

Sierra Nevada Journeys CEO Sean Hill has the innate passion of an outdoors enthusiast who appears to be enjoying the experience as much as kids from urban settings do. For many of the campers, it’s their first venture into nature. Sean, who tells me he would rather be “the guide on the side” than “the sage on the stage,” explains the three main focuses of the camp’s programs are “critical thinking, connecting to the outdoors, and youth development.”

Jonathan Haidt, the famed social psychologist who has gained notoriety in writing about political polarization and getting rid of cellphones in classrooms, writes in his book, "The Coddling of the American Mind": “Before the 1990s, kids experienced more risk, more thrills, more physical injuries, and fewer psychological injuries than they do today. Kids had more freedom to make mistakes and learn from them.”

Students who attend the camp experiences at the Camp get to experience a little of both, with the exception of physical injuries which are rare or non-existent in the Challenge Course which involves highly monitored climbing on towers with ropes, ascending barriers and trust-creating activities that often lead to an indelible impression on the mindset of a growing young person.

Commenting on the experience of the Challenge Course, students say:

• “You made school a thousand times better. My favorite day was the challenge course.” – Austin, student, Overnight Outdoor Learning

• “The wall on the challenge course completely changed my view on teamwork!” – Gigi, student, Overnight Outdoor Learning

• "Camp is so amazing the way you bring people who would never be friends; then, we went to camp and became friends.” – Morgan, student, Overnight Outdoor Learning

It’s why a foray from the unnatural world of four-walled classrooms into the living ecology on a Sierra Nevada mountainside is such a revelation and learning tool for many of the students whose classes sign up and attend.

An experience in nature with peers outside of the usual social constraints seems to leave a lasting benefit for students when they return after the camp to the traditional classroom.

Even Horace Mann, who championed the idea of a universal public education system in the United States, once wrote: “A teacher who is attempting to teach without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn is hammering on cold iron.”

No cold iron appears to be a problem to the students attending one of the science camps at Sierra Nevada Journeys:

• “I learned that you can’t see colors in the dark and also how to identify different bugs using a dichotomous key.” – John, student, Overnight Outdoor Learning

• “My favorite part of the field trip was the night hike. I learned that animals that can see in the night are called nocturnal.” Chris, student, Overnight Outdoor Learning

• Bella, a student at Overnight Outdoor Learning, said she learned that “the sun is the closest star to Earth.”

It would seem that fires *besides the one’s campers sit around before sleep takes over after of strenuous activities) gets lit more easily in the minds of attending students in these natural settings.

Dan Klaitch, a Sierra Nevada Journeys board member and past chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education, understands how important it is to unlock the desire for learning: “You and I have had the privilege of growing up with the incredible beauty of the Sierra all around us. It is difficult to realize that there are so many young men and women in our communities who have not had that experience. It is humbling when kids see stars in a blackened sky for the first time, or catch a tadpole. All this happens in an environment where we stress teamwork, respect and an understanding of our obligation to steward our environment for generations to come.”

Seems like a win-win for both students and their schools. Thousands of students from WCSD schools, public charter schools and private religious schools attend programs at the rural facility each year.

The 18th-century English poet William Wordsworth wrote: “Come forth into the light of things, let nature be your teacher.” We would be wise to give the next generation every opportunity to experience that in our own beautiful backyard.

As a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit, Sierra Nevada Journeys raises scholarship funds for local youth to participate in overnight programs. For every donation made by a new Nevada donor until the end of the year, your gift will be matched, dollar-for-dollar, up to $10,000. Go to sierranevadajourneys.org if you wish to donate. 

"Memo from the Middle" is an opinion column written by RGJ columnist Pat Hickey, a member of the Nevada Legislature from 1996 to 2016.

Stuart Golder Joins Sierra Nevada Journeys as Director of Donor Relationships

Stuart Golder, MA, CFRE, Director of Donor Relationships, Sierra Nevada Journeys

Stuart Golder, MA, CFRE, has joined Sierra Nevada Journeys as the Director of Donor Relationships. As a member of the Advancement team, Golder is spearheading key donor relationships. He has devoted his professional career to program and fund development for nonprofits, higher education, and healthcare. Over the last 25 years, Golder raised funds for the Children’s Cabinet, the University of Nevada, Reno, Truckee Meadows Community College, and Renown Health Foundation, focusing on family services, education, and healthcare.

"We are excited to welcome Stuart to our organization. Our commitment to world-class science and outdoor education for underserved youth requires community investment, and Stuart is a natural fit to help communicate our mission and develop new partnerships for support," said Sean Hill, President and CEO of Sierra Nevada Journeys. 

Golder's connection to Sierra Nevada Journeys began when his daughter attended Overnight Outdoor Learning in middle school, followed by several summers at camp.  "I was familiar with Sierra Nevada Journeys through my daughter's engagement in the overnight camp programs. However, in recent months, I've had the chance to delve deeper into the organization, and I've discovered a true gem," Golder stated. "One of my first visits to camp was able to attend the employee awards ceremony and I was touched by the team's passion and commitment to delivering high-quality STEM programs to youth. I am excited to represent Sierra Nevada Journeys and the great work being done here."

Golder’s expertise spans major gifts, donor engagement, grant writing, planned giving, endowments, and capital campaigns. He is eager to support the students and staff at Sierra Nevada Journeys to expand the region’s STEM and environmental education programs.

Stuart earned his Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) credential and served as president of the board for both the Sierra Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and the Planned Giving Round Table of Northern Nevada.

If you're interested in meeting Golder for coffee and conversation, please feel free to contact him at 775.355.1688 or stuartg@sierranevadajourneys.org.