The Washington Trust for Historic Preservation’s 2025 Youth Heritage Project will take place at the Mountains to Sound Greenway National Heritage Area in North Bend this summer from July 14-17.
A cornerstone of the Washington Trust’s educational initiatives, the Youth Heritage Project (YHP) hosts high school students from across the state for a four-day educational field school, focusing on the history, culture, and natural beauty of Washington’s special places.
Students who attend YHP learn how to engage with their communities through participation, inspiring the next generation of leaders to get involved with the places that matter to them.
Participation in YHP is offered free of charge to students in the region, thanks to the program’s partnership with the National Park Service and the Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation.
This year’s YHP will host 40 high school students and eight teachers/mentors from 26 communities across the state, including Bellevue, Camas, Coupeville, Ellensburg, Forks, Gig Harbor, Issaquah, Kent, Kirkland, Lakewood, Liberty Lake, Mercer Island, Newcastle, Olympia, Port Angeles, Poulsbo, Redmond, Richland, Seattle, Snohomish, Spokane, Tumwater, Vancouver, Wenatchee, West Seattle, and Yakima.
With a home base at the Rainbow Lodge Retreat Center, nestled on 40 acres in the tall timber at the base of Mount Si in North Bend, students at this year’s YHP will explore the relationship between humans and the landscape. They will have opportunities to engage in hands-on activities to help conservation efforts, visit historic sites and unique museums, and learn about co-management of cultural resources.
Students will begin the week with an introduction to the Mountains to Sound Greenway National Heritage Area, the cities of North Bend and Snoqualmie, and the Snoqualmie Tribe at Meadowbrook Farm.
They will also go on an architectural walking tour of downtown North Bend, hike around Snoqualmie Falls while analyzing available interpretations of the area, and visit the Snoqualmie Falls Hydroelectric Museum. Additionally, students will attend a Lunch ‘n’ Learn at Rattlesnake Lake to learn the story of the lost town of Moncton, participate in a service project at Lake Sammamish with the Snoqualmie Tribe, and visit the Snoqualmie Valley and Northwest Railway Museums.
Throughout the week, students will work on group interpretation projects that explore the relationship between humans and the landscape at sites within the Mountains to Sound Greenway National Heritage Area, to develop interpretation materials for a high school-aged audience. At the end of the week, students will present their projects to a panel of experts at a Town Hall meeting.
The Town Hall meeting will take place on Thursday, July 17, from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. at the historic North Bend Theatre (125 Bendigo Blvd N, North Bend). A panel of cultural resource management professionals will also be on hand to offer encouragement and feedback to the students as they make their presentations. Members of the press and the general public are invited to attend.
YHP 2025 is made possible with the support of the National Park Service, Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, and the Mountains to Sound Greenway National Heritage Area.
Bassetti Architects, Enderis Company, the Colonial Dames of America in the State of Washington, Rafn Company, the Suquamish Tribe, the Tulalip Tribes, Pioneer Masonry Restoration Company, and Studio TJP have provided additional funding.
[Downtown North Bend, WA. Photo by Brian Davis, courtesy of the North Bend Downtown Foundation.]
