A group of College of Western Idaho (CWI) students and faculty took an educational approach to Spring Break this semester by participating in a conference at Celebration Park near Melba. Over the course of the two days (March 25-26), 14 CWI students and two faculty members participated in the Alternative Spring Break hosted at the park. The event—sponsored by Canyon County Parks, Recreation and Waterways, Boise State University, and CWI—highlighted the anthropology, archaeology, and natural history of the park and the Snake River valley.
The event included workshops and presentations in the new education building at Celebration Park. Workshop topics included climate change on the park’s collection of petroglyphs and the collection, preservation, and interpretation of petroglyphs. Presentations covered archaeology of the park and its connections to other sites in the Snake River valley, cultural sites as educational opportunities, and natural history and environment of the region.
Nikki Gorrell and Kelsey Wilbur presented on the CWI Anthropology program’s project to record and catalog the petroglyphs at the park. CWI students also collaborated on a poster presentation documenting the project at Celebration Park.