Mudd Nick Foundation’s Learning Experiences
With approximately 3,000 opportunities annually for children to participate in life-expanding activities, the Mudd Nick Foundation focuses on developing learning experiences that complement, enhance, and broaden what they learn in the classroom. We direct our efforts and energies on delivering impactful, stimulating, fun, and meaningful experiences. In close partnership with the North Tillamook County schools, we identify and fund opportunities to which local children would not otherwise have access.
These learning experiences focus on providing children:
• access to the arts and cultural activities both within their local area and beyond
• opportunities to participate in athletic programs
• ways to build self-esteem and self-reliance
• a chance to give back to their community
2023-2024 Learning Experiences
Garibaldi Grade School
- K/5 ART Literacy
- K/5 Jump Rope Assembly Students will have a jump rope team come perform at an assembly. Then 2nd-5th graders will have a chance to have special clinics
- Pre K Train Ride Students will explore the community they live in while enjoying a train ride and then walk to get ice cream
- K/1 Zoo Students will study animal habitats throughout the school year while interacting with the larger community
- 4/5 Battle of the Books
- 2/3 Zoo Students will learn about animal adaptations and biomes with a trip to the zoo, along with eating at a restaurant
- 4/5 Play and Pizza in the Park Students will travel to Portland to watch the play, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, followed by having pizza in the park
- 4/5 OMSI Students will participate in squid dissection and owl pellet dissection to look at biology and proper dissection techniques
- PreK - 1 Bug Me! OMSI will come to the school and bring insects for students to look at and learn about.
Nehalem Elementary School
- 1 Quintana’s Class- Fish Hatchery & Winding Roads DairyField trip to the Fish Hatchery and a dairy farm on Hwy 53
- K Carbary Class- 3 local Field Trips Field trips to: #1 NBFD and Library, #2 Seaside Aquarium and #3 NB State Park
- K Archer Class- 3 local Field Trips Field trips to: #1 NBFD and Library, #2 Seaside Aquarium and #3 NB State Park
- K/5 Duer’s Jump Rope Assembly Local Jump Rope group will do an assembly for us then Duer will teach a jump rope unit with jump ropes provided to all K-5 students afterward
- Restaurant Invasion 3 local restaurants will “invade” NES to cook for students, etiquette lessons, fine dining environment, Career-focused talk from chef
- Battle of the Books, grades 3–5 We would like to take the Battle of the Books online this year! We will meet with students via Zoom to come up with teams to “battle” GGS’s teams.
- NES Art Literacy Program, K-5 - Mills Money to fund an art literacy program. Monthly 35-45 min. art lessons in all K-5 classes Oct-May
- McCoy/Henderson/Williams Maritime Museum and Learning Labs Field trip to the Maritime Museum to include in depth learning about Columbia River Basin and how the PNW was explored, navigated and settled, sit down meal at restaurant for lunch.
- 2/3 classes to the Gilbert Children’s Museum Field trip to the Children’s Museum in Salem to study hands on STEM, arts, humanities exhibits.
- 2 Kinder Classes to visit and ride the Oregon Scenic Railroad Both classes will go to NBSP together to learn about the kinds of jobs people have in the community for a Social Studies Field Trip
Middle School
- 6th Grade Field Trip Oregon Coast Aquarium Sixth grade students of NKN MS will have the chance to observe and learn about local marine life in a hands-on experience with their peers. The learning experience will take something that is usually viewed in a book or on a screen and turn it into a first hand personal experience and provide a tangible memory.
- Middle School Robotics International Robotics competition grades 6-12. Learn to troubleshoot technology challenges, work in teams effectively, communicate effectively using appropriate vocabulary.
- Tillamook Estuaries Partnership Field Trip Students will partner with science based educators in our community for hands-on marine learning experience. Observations of marine organisms, identifying species and studying their anatomy and niche in their ecosystems. 2-4 books
- Winter/Spring Book Club NKN MS has a lot of voracious readers who love to explore the world of literature. They would experience history, different worlds, different cultures and learn about different relationships through the books they read. They would have a chance to discuss those books with peers and expand their discussion skills via a Socratic Seminar based books club.
- Zoo trip for 6th and 7th graders Seeing an improv group would enrich the lives of students to promote self confidence and let them know it’s okay to take a risk and fail. It encourages students to get out of their comfort zone and find out something new about themselves. Be able to engage in discussions with fellow peers and adults.
- PX2 One Session Seattle Institute provides a virtual PX2 program for 7th-8th graders. It's rebranded as 'Becoming Me". They also have a virtual PX2 9th-12th graders.
- Washington DC Trip
- Dungeons and Dragons Club This gives students a fun and interactive way to socialize with peers in a low pressure yet fun environment. This game will give them the skill to start conversations, ask questions, seeing others’ perspectives and problem solving.
- Oregon Battle of the books Regional Tournament The OBOB tournaments are a series of battles based on 16 preselected books. These books are chosen based on their diversity. The team that can answer the most questions correctly moves onto the next round. The intended learning objective is to increase interest and engagement with reading. Students will be encouraged to read and are recognized for their efforts.
- Timbers or Thorns Soccer Game
High School
- Theater Experience: A Midsummer Night’s Dream- Clark students read the play before they attend the performance and discuss the aforementioned learning objective areas to enrich their understanding. We will also review proper audience behavior and prepare questions for the question and answer session that follows the performance.
- Robotics Students will participate in the first tech challenge competition.
- Fire School Career exploration activity covering forestry and natural resources careers supports networking with other future natural resources leader programs.
- Pinball Students will learn about the engineering design process, and will engage in at least one design cycle before visiting North Coast Pins. We will watch a video on pinball machines so that we are familiar with the vocabulary and basic design of these machines.
- Portland Art Museum Art club members will go to exhibits and observe a variety of pieces. They will choose a piece to copy, as the apprentices did historically, spend time recording it and then continue back at NKN to make it their own.
- Financial Reality Fair This will be a week long event with lessons, career speakers and a culminating event with the Oregon Credit Union financial reality fair.
- College and Career Field Trips Students go through a variety of career development activities in advisory towards creating a postsecondary plan for themselves. Career speakers are also brought into the school to aid in a student’s exploration of options
- Honor Band The judges provide feedback and encouragement that helps shape future rehearsals and prepares the band for possible state competition. The students will also use the knowledge gained from the festival to improve their own personal performance as well as the overall performance of the band.
- Teatro Milagro Students will study the work of Cervantes prior to the date of the performance and learn the history and importance of Don Quixote.
- Ballet Hispanico students would be able to experience a live performance highlighting the dances and music from many of the Spanish Speaking countries from around the world that we study in class. This would enhance student learning by giving them an experience they would not yet otherwise have within the school building.
- Cadaver Lab Students will observe preserved specimens of humans locked in a particular pose, and be able to see how body systems interact to produce motion. The program explains the importance of this work and the process of consent and preservation.
- Native American Cultural Exploration Students will explore what a reservation is like. They will learn about other government styles, traditions, the culture, art and music, and more. Being able to give the students such an enriching experience will help them become better humans; by knowing how to listen and observe how other people live and function with such hard histories they learn in history and government classes.
- Arizona Baseball Student athletes go play baseball, they help organize, plan, develop itinerary, fundraise etc.
- Watershed Science Field Experiences Students will connect background knowledge of watershed morphology, stream flows, hydrology, and vital habitat characteristics
- Altius Summer Learning Project Students will begin their NKNHS Altius Summer Learning Project with a four day, four hour learning session at the high school where students will learn the foundations for their final research project and the class. These four sessions will include writing instruction, reading, as well as exercise and sport performance testing and instruction.
- Partners of the Americas Exchange Program Students spend 8 weeks in Costa Rica on exchange and then in return host a student in December
Multi-School
- Missoula Theatre
- 4H Camp Overnight Camp
- Opera to Go – will be paid by the High School (will be added to HS fund tracking form) Portland Opera to Go will perform an opera for high school and middle school students on Friday at NKN High School. Exposing students to an opera would definitely broaden their social and cultural understanding. An opera performance includes theatre, dance, and song in a manner in the vast majority of students have never experienced.
Multi-School
- Chess for Success Currently there are 25 GGS Students, 33 NES Students (and they’ve hired an additional coach) and 16 Middle School and High School Students
- NKN SD K-12 Youth Track Meet & 4/ 5 District Track Meet A district track meet for students in grades 4th through 5th. Students from Garibaldi Grade School and Nehalem Elementary come together to compete in a district meet at the high school track.
- Chess Club for Middle and HIgh School - James Johansen My basic objective is to have students become better chess players. When students improve their chess skills, they become more confident overall. Students will start with the basics of chess and then will learn intermediate and some advanced chess techniques. Students will also have the opportunity to compete in regional chess tournaments and if they qualify, the state Chess for Success tournament.
North County Recreation District
- Swim Program We are a student-targeted program that is all-inclusive, provided at no cost to all children of Nehalem Elementary School and District #56 Adaptive Swim Students. The goals are to introduce swimming fundamentals as the foundation, focus on stroke technique, promote water safety awareness, inspire independence, and build endurance through drills, skills, games, relaxation techniques, and fun!
- Forest to Sea Week-long camp teaching children the relationship between people and the natural world.
- Summer Art Camp
