15700 Old Oak Ranch Road Sonora, CA 95370 | (209) 532–3691

Sierra Outdoor School

Part of the Clovis Unified School District

Administration

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Rees Warne

Rees is the Director for Sierra Outdoor School. He grew up in Sonora and attended Curtis Creek Elementary and Sonora High School before moving to Fresno to attend college at California State University, Fresno. While attending CSUF he earned his B.S. degree and M.A. in Educational Leadership. After college he worked as a 5/6 grade teacher in Fresno Unified before moving into administration in the Clovis Unified School District. As an administrator, Rees spent time as a GIS at Nelson Elementary School, Learning Director and Deputy Principal at Buchanan High School, and most recently the Principal at Gateway High School. On his free time, Rees likes to fish his favorite lake or stream in the Sierras or do projects around the house. He is thrilled to be back home in Tuolumne County.

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Janelle McDonald (Bluegill)
Janelle is the daytime Program Coordinator for the Sierra Outdoor School. She earned her B.S. in Outdoor Education and M.S. in Recreation Administration. Before working at SOS, she worked as a ranger and educator for the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and non-profit outdoor education centers. She lives just a few miles from SOS with her spouse, daughter and 2 rescue pets. She enjoys spending time outdoors with her family and volunteering with the local fire department as an EMT and firefighter.

Emma Ervolina (Glacier)

Emma is the nighttime coordinator at Sierra Outdoor School. Emma grew up in New York’s Hudson Valley. She earned her B.S. in Geology in 2014, where she had opportunities to study glaciers on the Juneau Icefield, paleo landslides in the southwest, and microplastic pollution in northeastern waterways. Feeling inspired to share her passion with the next generation of scientists, Emma packed up her car and drove to California to become a naturalist intern at Sierra Outdoor School in 2015. Here she had the privilege to work alongside incredible educators, soaking up their knowledge and developing her own teaching style. Emma has since worked for other outdoor schools in NY and CA before finding her way back to SOS where she is excited to work with the next wave of outdoor educators: the Naturalist Interns! In her free time Emma can be found hiking, camping, xc skiing, getting crafty, playing the fiddle, or finding secret swimming holes.

Shawna Cook
Shawna is the Food Service Supervisor at SOS and grew up in Tuolumne County. She attended Curtis Creek Elementary and graduated from Sonora High School in 1991. She has worked in food service for 19 years managing bakeries and cake decorating. She began at Sierra Outdoor School in 2002 and happily takes care of the student store, vending machines, and all areas in the dining hall and kitchen. She loves everything about her job here at SOS.

Sonna Swiderski

Sonna is the Office Manager and was the SOS Food Service Director for seven years. During the summer months she can be found back in the SOS kitchen enjoying the heck out of herself cooking and working with our summer groups. She says that she truly feels that SOS is the "best place on earth," and she loves coming to work every day. She says her co-workers are wonderful and they have a lot of fun with the ever-changing groups of children and adults they see each week. Sonna has lived in Tuolumne County most of her life, attending Curtis Creek Elementary and graduating from Sonora High. She loves spending time with her family and friends, cooking, and gardening. She lives in the Phoenix Lake Area of Sonora with her husband, son, niece, her dog Rocky and three adopted cats.