Craig Tufts Scholarship

Saguaro Skies

By Ellen Lambeth

Congratulations to Nethanya Fonseka, 16, winner of the 2024 Craig Tufts Educational Scholarship!

Nethanya Fonseka
Photo by Ly Frank

This scholarship pays for a nature-loving kid and an adult family member to attend the Family Nature Summit, a weeklong outdoor education camp.

It’s easy to imagine Nethanya hollering “I’m on top of the world!” in the photo at left. She had just reached the highest peak in the Catalinas, a mountain range in southeastern Arizona. “The trails were narrow, steep, and rocky,” she says. “But each step was worth it.”

This climb was after Nethanya’s team had camped overnight in the Coronado National Forest. Nethanya was so happy with her teen group. She made many new and lasting friends there.

Nethanya Fonseka
Photo by Peggy Brosnan

In this second picture (right), she’s with one of her Summit besties as they practice orienteering. That’s using a map and compass to follow a path along a marked trail. Nethanya thought it was a cool skill—and good experience.

The Summit’s desert landscape was very different from what Nethanya was used to back home in Michigan. She got to study nature “among towering saguaro cactuses and under brilliant western sunsets.” She’d never hiked a mountain range nor explored canyons and caves before. She even saw curious towering rock formations called hoodoos.

As for wildlife, Nethanya came across a number of creatures not found in her home state. Her sightings included venomous diamondback rattlesnakes, Gila monsters, scorpions, and tarantulas.

At the Summit’s final evening program, Nethanya gave her own presentation. It was about an organization she founded, called Plant It Forward. Her mission? To help local communities protect existing trees and to plant more—many more. She knows that, by joining forces with others, we can protect the environment AND help combat climate change

BE THE NEXT ADVENTURE WINNER!

Family Nature Summit

Craig Tufts was the chief naturalist at the National Wildlife Federation, the group that publishes Ranger Rick. Learn more about Craig.

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