It started in the summer of 2024 in the East Kootenays, where Cassia was introduced to the plight of the Western Painted Turtle while volunteering alongside the BC Parks Head Biologist at Kikomun Provincial Park, the park her parents managed. There, she helped monitor turtles around the lakes, locate nesting sites, and ensure visitors weren’t inadvertently harming the turtles.
“I love this because it allows me to pursue environmental conservation, which is my desired field, alongside giving back to nature, connecting with my community, supporting a cause, and more.”
- Lessons From the Lakeshore
This past May, Cassia discovered that Wildsight Canada runs a program monitoring the turtles from May to July around Revelstoke’s Red Devil Hill, and she jumped right in, shell first! Her volunteer work has ranged from setting up silt fences to keep turtles off the roadways to educating the public, tracking and counting turtles most evenings throughout June, reporting incidents, monitoring a local nest site, setting up safety pylons and tape, and attending community events.
Between her time in Kikomun and her summer with Wildsight, Cassia has now spent two full summers doing this work, evenings on the lakeshore, hands-on with a species most people never get close to. Two summers in, and she’s really coming out of her shell as a conservationist.
“It is vital to protect various species that we coexist with, as we are all stewards of God’s Creation, and must tend to the environment to the best of our abilities – be it in large or minute ways.”
Cassia describes coming away with a whole “cornucopia of skills”: communication and responsibility among them, while confirming her desire to pursue a related career. Her appreciation for the turtles has only grown, and she says encouraging others to respect these reptiles brings her real satisfaction.
- Where School Meets the Outdoors
Cassia’s journey is a vivid example of what home education can look like when it gives a student room to roam, literally. Being educated through HCOS has allowed her to travel throughout Southern B.C. for years, opening doors to opportunities like her work with Wildsight that a traditional school schedule might not have allowed.
“If it weren’t for home education, I wouldn’t have been able to come to Revelstoke, nor be in the outdoors as much as I am.”
Cassia says travel and home education have paired wonderfully. Having witnessed the varying landscapes and diverse communities across all of southern B.C.’s regions has given her a fresh perspective and strengthened her ambitions.
Looking ahead, Cassia will attend Selkirk College in the fall of 2027 to pursue a Bachelor of Natural Resource Science, before continuing on to Thompson Rivers University, with the eventual goal of a PhD in Environmental Biotechnology. Her summers spent monitoring turtles have already given her a head start: real connections, hands-on experience, and confirmation that this is the career path for her.
As she puts it, it’s best to leave something better than one found it, and Cassia W. is doing exactly that, one turtle nest at a time. She’s not just making waves, she’s turtle-y inspiring.
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