Extraordinary Women Leaders in Speleology (EWLS)

A new program at Wind Cave National Park teaches kids how to explore the natural world. The park will host "Adventures in Nature" every other Tuesday until April 5. Source: rapidcityjournal.com

A Girl Scout caving experience last year resulted in unanimous excitement and interest in speleology. Volunteer leaders Amanda Letany, Michelle Smiley, Jeffrin Lozano and Linda Griffith lead the weekend trip to Bluesprings Caverns. The ladies learned about cave exploration and took a wild tour to an undeveloped part of the cave. They walked sideways, crawled on hands and knees, laid down on their sides, scooted sideways and army-crawled to reach a waterfall. Then they climbed the waterfall and came out wet, muddy and loving the experience. The scouts said sleeping in a cave was one of their favorite things. Fifth-grader Hannah Letany said “the best part of the trip was getting to climb and squeeze through the tight spaces” and fourth-grader Olivia Lozano said she liked the boat tour because “it was peaceful and calm." Great job scouts. Thank you leaders from troop 148 and 86 for supporting women in caving! #CaveKids #EWLS Source: nwitimes.com

Sarah Martin, assistant general manager of Mammoth Cave Hotel enlisted Kesley Janes, a senior at Edmonson County High School, to beautify the Mammoth Cave National Park camp store as part of a renovation and rehabilitation project. Kesley recently created mural above the counter featuring the wildlife guests may encounter when they visit. She has been painting images for the last year. She painted a skunk and an owl on support pillar at the store and a blue-tailed lizard near the register. #EWLS #WLeadership Source: glasgowdailytimes.com

“My mom taught me … I like caving because there is a chance I could see bats!" Rebekah Bauman Caving since 3 years old and 2013 EWC #WLeadership #ewls www.ewls.org

Here are some great young women who have shared their skills and become leaders in caving at a very young age. If you like these, you'll like our Pinterest page too! Kristen Bredemeier is director of environmental education at Teach and Learn Experientially, the non-profit that manages EarthWorks & Exchange City in the SubTropolis business park. Read more here . Gretchen Hartman, 18 years, has been caving with the NSS youth program for almost 4 years now and is a member of the Philadelphia Grotto. Read more here . Catie McEntee first went caving about 4 years ago with her Venturing Crew (the co-ed division of Eagle Scouts) on a trip hosted by the NSS Youth Liaison Committee Chairperson Allen Maddox. Today she studies engineering at North Carolina State University. Read more here . Katrina Berry is a 20 year old college student who has been caving with the NSS youth program for 2 years. Berry has planned and ran her own trip of 12 Scouts and leaders to...

A visit to the Cave of the Mounds — likely a favorite field trip for many schoolchildren — is an everyday activity for kids taking part in Camp Brigham there. The daily cave experience is true of any of the eight week-long camps, which have themes such as “Wild Safari” and “Life in the Past.” However, the cave visits were particularly meaningful for last week’s geology-based camp, GeoJourney. It’s one of the more popular camps because it is at the core of the experience of Cave of the Mounds, said Kim Anderson, operations manager. “The cave has many more surprises than you learn on a normal cave tour,” said Gabe Pitzen, 10, a GeoJourney camper who will be a fifth-grader at Chavez Elementary School. “I like that we get to go into the cave every day and there’s different activities every day.” Margaux Bress, 12, who will be a seventh-grader at Hamilton Middle School, said she also enjoyed the trips into the cave and its constant 50-degree temperature. Read more … http...

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