SANDPOINT — Following a presentation by Schweitzer ski patrollers Wednesday morning, Homeschool Academy students easily agreed on what the best part of the trip was.

"The avalanche dog," said 9-year-old Canyon Moon, in a tone of voice indicating the answer was obvious that a rescue demonstration by "Annie" was the best part. 

His answer was echoed by some of the other students, like 11-year-olds Pippi Weerheim and Gideon Pomerinke. Gideon and Canyon also enjoyed learning about the explosives used for avalanche control from the ski patrollers because, well, boys will be boys.

"When I heard about the avalanche job, I was like, 'I want to do some explosions,'" Canyon said.

The students, a few parents and Home School Academy instructor Melinda Rossman were on the mountain Wednesday to learn what the ski patrol does, mountain safety and the avalanche dog demonstration.

The first stop was the ski patrol building where Lori Porter, a registered nurse from Bonner General Health, helps out with medical care. After describing some of the medical equipment the staff uses, she demonstrated on a few of the students arm splinting equipment and techniques, as well as how to read vital signs, such as heart rate and oxygen level.

"This here is your oxygen level and we want to see between 90 and 100," Porter told 7-year-old Averee Chamberlain who had a good oxygen level at 95.

Porter engaged the children with questions like, "Has anybody got hurt on the mountain?" All of the children had been skiing on the mountain and most knew a family member or friend who had been hurt on the slopes. One girl said she fell on the bunny slope and hit her face on the ground, but she was OK. Pippi later told the Daily Bee she has been going to Schweitzer since she was 3 years old, skiing since she was 5, and has never been hurt.

The kids were also full of questions, such as, "What if you got hurt (on the slopes) and nobody saw you?"

"That's why it is really important to ski with a buddy," said ski patroller Kim Loosemore, as the question created a segue to her presentation on mountain safety.

Loosemore went over the "skier responsibility code" with the kids. The number one rule, she said, is to "stay in control." One student said it is important to stay in control because if a skier gets going too fast they could fall. Loosemore agreed and added that a skier who is not in control might hit something like a pole, a tree or another skier.

The code also says people in front have the right of way; stop in a safe place for you and others; look uphill whenever starting back downhill or merging; use devices that prevent runaway equipment; observe signs and warnings — keep off of roped trails; and know how to use the lifts safely.

Annie the avalanche dog was the final presentation of the morning for the kids. The 2-year-old American field labrador retriever demonstrated her skills on the slopes by locating and digging up some articles of clothing her handler buried ahead of time. After dragging the clothing to the surface, handler Angie Nylund rewarded her with a toy and Annie excitedly ran up and down the slope, eliciting laughter and mumbles of "she is so cute," from the kids and parents who attended. Nylund said Annie loves kids because she has a 5-year-old girl at home to play with.

Rossman said Wednesday was the sixth trip to the mountain for the HSA students this winter for educational activities as well as skiing. Rossman, who enjoys all things outdoors, always incorporates lessons on the environment in their Wednesday field trips. Some lessons include winter sports as part of winter ecology, who keeps track of the snowfall and why it is important to keep track of it.  

"A lot of things around snowpack because it will all link back into our spring sessions, which will be biology and botany," Rossman said.

This is the first year of the academy, which provides supplemental education for grades K-8 with a focus on environmental learning for home-school students in the Lake Pend Oreille School District. The academy has grown from about 15 to 35 students this year, and Rossman said she hopes to see more sign up by next year.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee