From the highway at the base of Vogel's Hill, all you can see is a road disappearing into the contour of the land. But beyond that lies so much more: The Jackson Campus of Teton Science Schools is busy servicing the educational needs of school children, teachers-in-learning and students of nature young and old, while maintaining and enhancing conservation easements on all but two percent of nearly 900 acres. Carefully integrated into the landscape are two residential lodges, five educational buildings, dining hall, maintenance building and welcome center. Built in 2004, all buildings were designed from a green perspective, using high-performance materials with low-level organic compounds and using minimal resources. Natural lighting and innovation in space design have resulted in an environment that benefits all who live, work and visit here. Residential lodges are dormitory-style, clean, and basic. Each room has enough beds to sleep four or five people, including bunk beds in the rooms, though top bunks are only used for youth. Rooms contain a reading lamp, small table and chair, and private bathroom. All of the buildings have free wifi access; cell phone service is limited. 20 years ago, Teton Science Schools adopted the Shaker philosophy of hands-to-work which has served the school very well. We believe that if everyone cleans up after themselves as part of a community, people will have more respect for each other and the world around them. Hands to work also helps build a sense of community and rapport amongst participants. Youth participants help clean their rooms with the assistance of staff. Staff then check all the rooms for cleanliness after the participants have moved out of their rooms, helping to ensure all rooms are spotless upon move-in for the next group. For adult programs such as this, we ask that participants help wipe down dining room tables after meals and pull linens from their beds at the end of the program.
