11600 Columbia College Drive · Sonora, California 95370

Public Information Office: 209.588.5361 · Fax 209.588.5367

NEWS RELEASE

-- For Immediate Release --

Date: February 4, 2008

Contact: Doug Lau, Director of Marketing & Public Relations

High Sierra Institute embraces college education in wilderness

Fully experience the High Sierra through classes and instructional field studies at the High Sierra Institute! Columbia College, a part of the Yosemite Community College District (YCCD), conducts accredited college classes for the public during the summer months – May through August -- at the historic Baker Station site in California’s High Sierra region.

The High Sierra Institute, or HSI promotes holistic academic education in a rustic wilderness setting. Students can enroll in HSI courses in the humanities, environmental arts and biological sciences. Among the more popular classes scheduled this summer are field geology, field biology, birds of Central California, Spanish and nature writing. The historic field station also provides a staging area for classes involving backcountry exploration in an area geologically and biologically unique from anywhere else in the nation.

As one of the California Community Colleges, Columbia’s enrollment fee is just $20 per unit for California residents, plus any other standard student fees. Overnight lodging is free to students.

Formed as a partnership in 2000 between the YCCD and the U.S. Forest Service, the institute is operated in the Stanislaus National Forest under a special use permit. Located 56 miles from Sonora on Highway 108 at the 6,200 ft. elevation, the 2 ½ acre site is accessible to about 200,000 acres of high country meadows, snowfields, streams, lakes and forests just below the Sonora Pass and adjacent to Kennedy Meadows. Surrounded by granite domes and other natural volcanic and glacial features, the institute’s terrain can best be described as pristine wild lands, rich in both natural beauty and ecological diversity.

Baker Station was established in 1879 as a way station for the Sonora and Bodie Stagecoach and was called Greenburry Columbus Baker’s Station after its founder. Over the years, it served as a summer resort, a CalTrans maintenance station, and a Forest Service guard and work station.

Developing the 12 building location into a high country educational center was part of the partnership agreement. There are accommodations for up to18 students in the barracks and 15 camp sites for those who bring their own personal tents. A well-equipped kitchen and bathroom facility with showers are available for use. Participants must furnish their own sleeping bags, pillows, towels, food, and appropriate clothing and footwear.

Dimitri Keriotis, HSI coordinator describes some of the greatest benefits of the program as coming from “the students’ interpersonal connections, friendships, group dynamics and overall closeness.” He added, “Our institute’s unique approach to education is entirely innovative and is, of course, extremely affordable for everyone to enjoy. It connects academic learning with nature’s classroom in a kind of magical setting of mountains, trees and woods.”

A list of this summer’s High Sierra Institute classes, registration details, and other information can be found at www.gocolumbia.edu/BakerStation/index.htm. The Columbia College admissions and records office at (209) 588-5231 can also assist in enrolling in HSI classes. Keriotis can be reached at (209) 575-6718, or by email at keriotisd@yosemite.edu.

-30-

News Release No. 011-08

February 4, 2008

For Immediate Release

Photo Attachments:

1) HSI cabins

2) Outdoor class

3) Field study view