From Snowboards to Science

By Ben Peters

I am an Outdoor STEM Educator at the Truckee Meadows Parks Foundation. I get to spark excitement in students and campers about science, the ways it shapes our world, and how it makes us who we are. I've always loved talking about science, but I didn’t originally see myself as an educator.

Growing up, my mom taught food and culinary at high schools across northern Nevada. I saw how much energy and time she put into her students, and I told myself, “It’s not worth having summers off.” During high school and college, I convinced myself I didn’t want to be a teacher.

After graduating college, I became a snowboard instructor at Diamond Peak in Incline Village. The views—Tahoe glittering 1,000 feet below—were breathtaking. I told myself I wasn’t really teaching, just coaching on the slopes, staying just outside the lines of being a "teacher."

Finding My Way

The following ski season, I applied for a similar position at Mt. Rose and discovered their Green Team—a group offering free tours to guests curious about the mountain’s wilderness. I started leading weekend tours, talking about trees and alpine ecosystems in the Tahoe Basin. Sharing information about what was right in front of us was energizing. People would ask to touch a tree I just described or pocket a mangled pine cone lying at the base of a towering pine. Their curiosity was contagious.

Still, weekend tours weren’t sustainable without a second job. I had been job-hunting for months when I stumbled across a Naturalist Educator listing with TMPF. Naturalist? Absolutely. Educator? That word still made me hesitate. I slept on it. The next morning, with gas money dwindling and curiosity peaking, I submitted my application.

I wasn’t offered the Naturalist Educator position—but I was offered a role as an Outdoor STEM Educator. My job would be to design and lead lessons and activities for spring and summer camps in 2025. Someone at TMPF must have been a fortune teller, because this position hooked me. Slowly, I started to get comfortable with the idea that maybe, just maybe, I was a teacher.

Facing the First Day

Spring Camp began a month later at the 100-year-old California Building in Idlewild Park. The camp followed a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) model, with each day centered around a theme. For spring break, our topic was "Global Explorers," teaching kids about science across cultures.

I had worked hard on my lesson plan for the Basque region, determined to make it fun and far from the lectures I had dreaded in college. Still, I was nervous. Did I really know what an 8-year-old would find interesting? It had been 15 years since I was that age! Teaching snowboarding was different—we talked, practiced, and then had a snowball fight. This was going to be something else.

But the first day didn’t begin with a snore. It began with a high-pitched chorus of joy as campers tossed soft balls around the building. It was like we’d started the snowball fight early, minus the snow. I did my best to keep a poker face as I handed out name tags.

My coworker Elyssa and the other educators made it look easy. They asked questions, listened to the campers, and kept things flowing. I began practicing the same rhythm—ask, listen, redirect, reinforce. My coworkers praised me for being good with kids, but without snow gear as a buffer, I felt exposed.

Stepping into the Role

By the end of the first week, I had gotten more practice. I helped carry out our camp constitution, mediated between campers, and made sure each kid felt heard, even the ones with voices so high-pitched I half-joked I needed hearing aids. I found myself getting better at explaining social expectations and noticing that camp was just a small version of life: learning to live in community, celebrating differences, and figuring out how to work together.

The first week was a blur, but the second week came more easily. I started seeing the campers as individuals, not a chaotic mass of energy. I lived for their lightbulb moments, the sudden shout of “Ohh I get it!” or a tap on my shoulder to show off an art project. The joy was real and contagious.

Camp became a place of uninhibited joy, where kids could connect with friends and educators who genuinely wanted to see them grow. My coworkers and I were helping them learn not just science, but how to navigate this unpredictable world with wit and curiosity.

Why I Love This Work

With Summer Camp on the horizon, I have a new reason to roll out of bed and breathe in the crisp morning air. My job is to think like a kid when designing lessons, try not to get tagged, and most importantly, educate.

Because no matter how long I resisted calling myself a teacher, I’ve come to see that what I do is teaching. Still, when people ask what I do, I’ll probably keep saying:

“I’m an Outdoor STEM Educator. I show campers the world and why I love science.”

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About the Author:

Ben Peters 

Outdoor STEM Educator

Ben is our new Outdoor STEM Educator for spring and summer 2025, a Reno local, he graduated from UNR in 2023 with a degree in Agriculture Science. He worked with Perennial crops for his undergraduate internship with Desert Farming Initiative, including collecting scion wood from 150-year-old apple trees in Washoe Valley, Carson City, and Genoa. To help create an organic orchard, the university will use the orchard as a bank for scion wood for local growers. He enjoys being outdoors and is passionate about snowboarding, fishing, gardening, and hanging with his dog Aran.