Ranch gala to benefit youth education, leadership

SANDPOINT — Winter is months away, but for a local nonprofit, it isn’t too early to start thinking about snow. 

Selkirk Outdoor Leadership & Education, a Sandpoint-based nonprofit that organizes wilderness expeditions, will host Roundup at the Ranch on Saturday, Sept. 28 — a western-themed gala to support SOLE’s youth programs. 

“It’s going to be a good time,” said Dennison Webb, SOLE founder and executive director. “Wear your western duds or whatever you want,” he added. “We want to make it fun and not uncomfortable.” 

Proceeds from the event will go toward SOLE’s youth scholarship fund to help kids participate in adventures like rafting the Salmon River. Funds raised will also support SnowSchool — a field study program for local fifth graders.

“We’ve found over the past 12 years that teachers love it,” Webb said of SnowSchool, which takes students out of the classroom to study snow science in the Selkirk Mountains. 

“We provide support for teachers to be able to do real field work,” he added. 

The program aims to engage students with Sandpoint’s environment through the examination of snow water equivalent, snow temperature profile, snowpack depth, and other factors. After making observations, students plot and analyze data to gain a better understanding of statistics, trends, and the scientific method. 

“They get into it because they understand the relevance of it,” Webb said of bringing students to the field. “They're hitting academic standards in a highly relevant way that they may not necessarily get in the classroom.” 

It’s not all work and no play, however. After the activities are over, students sip hot chocolate and belly slide in the snow before returning to school. 

“Who doesn’t love hot chocolate?” Webb said with a smile. 

Since 2012, SOLE has fundraised and partnered with donors to bring SnowSchool to every fifth grader in the Lake Pend Oreille School District. To date, 4,800 students have gone through the program at no cost to families. 

“Not one kid has paid for it,” said Webb. “They don't pay one cent.” 

Webb also applies for more than a dozen grants each year to support SOLE’s programs. 

“Grants aren’t guaranteed,” Webb said. Foundations are often reluctant to provide continuous support for ongoing programs like SnowSchool, forcing SOLE to pursue alternative sources when grants dry up. 

“We want to see this community program sustain itself because it's so valuable for the local kids here,” said Webb. 

“That’s our mission — we empower youth to explore, achieve, and lead outdoors,” he added. “It’s that simple.” 

Saturday’s gala will take place at Western Pleasure Guest Ranch north of Sandpoint and is slated to include food, drinks, a silent auction, and live music. 

According to Webb, the event will be a chance to meet the people who make SOLE possible and understand the organization’s purpose. 

“It’s about disconnecting them and reconnecting them to the outdoors,” Webb said of kids who participate in SOLE programs. 

“We talk a lot about what happens after the SOLE experience,” he added. 

“We really want kids to take this knowledge and carry it with them the rest of their lives.”