Boise National Forest ~ Engineering
I was hired by the Engineering Department of the Boise National Forest for the summer of 2025 externship program. I was really excited and pleased about this position. My overall perspective of the Boise National Forest has changed drastically. There are multiple facets of the BNF. Such as, hydrology, botany, wildlife, and of course engineering.

Communication & Collaboration the Way they Work
There are so many projects going on at the Boise National Forest each year. Most of these projects are created 5 years in advance. There are so many details and departments that are involved during the various stages of these projects. Collaboration, communication skills and teamwork are vital to be successful in the completion of these projects. These are definitely 21st Century Learning skills to emphasize in my classroom.

Safety First!
Before we were allowed into the field, we had to be trained for safety purposes. We had to take a course for a government issued driver’s license to drive the Forest Service trucks. Driving in the backcountry requires a certain skill set to be safe. Then we were trained to use the radios on the trucks and the GIS, Geographic Information System, which includes several types of technology the government uses. Lastly, we had a CPR class, and we now have 2-year certifications. With all of this training, I felt pretty confident going into the field with a buddy.

Technology & Real Life Connections
As an extern I made real life connections with the projects I was involved with. I participated in two projects during my externship with the Engineering Department. The first was collecting data on signage and creating a comprehensive database focused on signage throughout the forest. We were trained to use GIS software and a specific GPS system to guide us in the backcountry and to collect the data. Due to the many fires in 2024 a lot of the signage is burned or missing. This was an important task to complete for recreation and public safety required by the United States government. Creating this database will assist in determining the amount of money that will need to be allocated to replace signage in the BNF.

The second project I worked on was burying traffic counters in 5 heavily used roads of the forest. The devices are buried 12 inches deep next to the road. The technology reads the cars passing by and will assist in determining how many cars utilize a particular road in a specific period of time.

My Takeaway
Making real life connections to assist in my learning assisted greatly. This increased my belief that my multilingual students will learn and deepen their knowledge in English if content is taught with real life connections via visual aids and other learning strategies. Something else I took away and will use in my classroom is the importance of collaboration and teamwork. So, working in groups and having classroom discussions will increase in my classroom in the upcoming school year.

Lisa Bengoechea
Jefferson Middle School
Grade Level and Subject Taught: 5th-6th English Language Learning