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Fires burn Los Angeles schools and destroy outdoor education sanctuaries

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Fires burn Los Angeles schools and destroy outdoor education sanctuaries
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Fires burn Los Angeles schools and destroy outdoor education sanctuaries

2025-01-13 05:41 Last Updated At:05:50

For Irina Contreras, a program manager for Los Angeles County’s Department of Arts and Culture, outdoor education was a refuge for both her and her daughter during the pandemic.

Now, much of that refuge has been burned in the raging wildfires around Los Angeles.

Her 7-year-old daughter, Ceiba, hikes with a kid’s adventure group called Hawks and attended Matilija, a bilingual forest school for preschool and kindergarten. Rain or shine, she and her friends would spend their days climbing, jumping, hiking, and swimming in places like Eaton Canyon Nature Area, a 190-acre (77-hectare) preserve near Altadena, now destroyed by fire.

Ceiba learned to ask plants for permission before taking samples to glue into her nature journal. Once, her group discovered a hidden path that led behind a waterfall. Ceiba couldn't stop talking about it for days.

For parents like Contreras, the wildfires have been devastating not just because of the loss of life and thousands of homes. They are mourning natural and educational areas that served as sanctuaries and learning spaces for local families, especially in the years since the pandemic. The fires have torn through natural areas that served every type of educational setting: public and private schools, nature-based preschools, homeschool groups, summer camps and more.

“It’s about so much more than what she’s been learning,” Contreras said. “I can speak with absolute confidence that it totally affected me, personally.”

The fires have burned school buildings, too, including Odyssey Charter School in Altadena, which Miguel Ordeñana's children attend.

“The community has been devastated by the fire,” said Ordeñana, senior manager of community science at the Natural History Museum. “It’s been a challenge to carefully share that news with my children and help them work through their emotions. A lot of their friends lost their homes. And we don’t know the impact to school staff, like their teachers, but a lot of them live in that area as well and have lost their homes.”

Some areas untouched by fire were inaccessible because of poor air quality. Griffith Park, home of the Hollywood sign, had not been affected by the end of the week but it's not clear when the air quality there will be good enough to resume outdoor programs, said Ordeñana, who was the first to capture on camera a late puma in the nearby area that gained fame under the name P-22.

Ordeñana said his family was able to connect with some other families from Odyssey Charter School for pizza and an indoor playdate, but he is uncertain what the days will look like for them with school closures already extending through next week.

All schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation’s second largest, were closed Friday because of heavy smoke and ash over the city. Classes will not resume until conditions improve, officials said. Pasadena Unified School District also closed schools and several of its campuses sustained damage, including Eliot Arts Magnet Middle School.

The California Department of Education released a statement Wednesday saying 335 schools from Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, Ventura, and San Diego counties were closed. It was unclear how many would be closed Monday.

During the pandemic, Contreras felt like she was stuck on a screen. She devoted much of her energy to working, writing and organizing, but her daughter’s outdoor education helped her better understand the value of stepping away from the grind.

Contreras feels confident the outdoor programs will return, although it’s unclear when it will be safe for people to hike around areas like Eaton Canyon.

“The nature center is gone,” Richard Smart, superintendent of the Eaton Canyon Natural Area in Pasadena, said Thursday. “The wildflowers, the shrubs are gone.” The park hosted dozens of school field trips a year and Smart estimates more than a thousand students visited yearly.

“Teachers liked it because it was also free, it was local, it was nearby. And it was a place to see nature — wild nature but also in a friendly, safe environment,” he said.

Only a few exterior walls of the Eaton Canyon Nature Center were left standing, he said.

“For many of the local school districts, we truly were in their backyard, and now they won’t be able to use it for the foreseeable future,” he said. “The park is such a touchstone for people in the community, and so to lose that is just, devastating is not even the right word. It feels indescribable.”

Many parents and teachers are likely wondering what to do and where to take their children as fires continue to burn across Los Angeles, said Lila Higgins, a senior manager for community science at the Natural History Museum and author of “Wild L.A,” a field trip and nature guidebook.

It can be healing to connect with the land after a disaster like the fires, Higgins said.

“Learning from our Indigenous partners, the original and continuing caretakers of Los Angeles, it is imperative we follow their leadership in the fire recovery,” Higgins said.

A certified forest therapy guide, Higgins says time in nature lowers heart rates, lowers blood pressure and helps children with attention-deficit / hyperactivity disorder feel more calm and relaxed.

“For children’s cognitive development, time in nature and time spent connecting with nature is so important," Higgins said. Outdoor spaces also can help children learn how to develop relationships through connections with animals, understand orientation through space by following trails and map-reading, and understand human impacts on wildlife.

Greg Pauly, co-author of “Wild L.A.” and director of the Urban Nature Research Center at the museum, said he had hope natural areas like Eaton Canyon would continue to be places to interact with nature and once again welcome field trips. "But it’s certainly going to be a while before that happens."

“This is the reality of modern Southern California," he said. “Fire changes the landscape and people’s lives shockingly often.”

This story has been updated to use the correct attribution for Higgins.

Mumphrey reported from Phoenix and Lurye reported from New Orleans.

The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

A firefighter battles the Palisades Fire in Mandeville Canyon Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

A firefighter battles the Palisades Fire in Mandeville Canyon Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

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Michael Kors takes it easy with new collection at New York Fashion Week

2025-02-12 09:17 Last Updated At:09:22

NEW YORK (AP) — Michael Kors created a runway that evoked his own living room to set the tone for his new Fall/Winter collection for New York Fashion Week, which focused on comfort and movement.

“It’s about the idea of ease, which we Americans invented. The world dresses this way, but what I like is that it has glamour,” Kors told The Associated Press backstage before the show.

The designer says he looked at old photos of icons like Lauren Hutton back in the 70s, and Zoe Kravitz on the street today to find the essence of the collection. “There’s this relaxed ease to how they look that I think is modern,” Kors said.

“It’s also about layering things in a very cool way. So it could be… a silk dress, but grab your husband’s coat or his jacket and throw it on. It’s about stride. I like when clothes move when you walk. That’s what’s sexy, not being naked.”

Models let the clothes do the talking with very minimal makeup and loose, natural hair as they marched down an extended two-aisled runway. The show opened with softly tailored menswear jackets paired with long flowing skirts or slouchy suit pants.

For a modern twist on layering for the fall, the show featured bikini bra tops under oversized blazers — either alone or with long blouses layering in between.

“Delicious oversized, cardigan blazers and coats with these very sort of filmy, soft dresses. This show is anti-corset, anti-Spanx, anti-bustier. It’s that comfort and ease,” Kors said.

Kors also heightened the show with touches of glamour in elegant dresses and jackets with swaths of sparkling sequins.

Black was a dominant color, with some grey, grey tweed and a few neutral colors including chocolate, green and deep purple. One standout material was long haired shearling-- in surprising colors like dusty mauve and celadon-- shown on a peacoat, a vest, several purses and even a pair of flat shoes.

Kors has always said every woman needs a great coat and he had plenty of options from leather trench coats belted tightly at the waist, to leather hipster jackets in several shapes, to one traditional trench-style, covered in liquid sequins which glistened in the light. There were cozy looks too, like long thick turtleneck sweaters – part of Kors' “neo-classic knitwear.”

Extending the casual, comfortable style to the setting, Kors and his team transformed a giant, high-ceilinged space at New York’s Terminal Warehouse to look like his home, with exposed brick and wood accents, and even art and houseware pieces punctuating the end of each runway bench. Japanese paper lanterns hung from the vaulted ceilings adding to what Kors called his “warm modernism.”

Celebrities flock to Kors shows and despite frigid New York temperatures, stars including Uma Thurman, Kerry Washington, Suki Waterhouse, Rose Byrne, Lea Michele, Cristin Milioti, and Rachel Zegler huddled together in the front row. Actor and reality star Lisa Rinna brought her daughter, Delilah Belle Hamlin, to watch her other daughter, Amelia Gray Hamlin, walk the runway.

“I can’t stop singing my praises about it,” gushed actor-singer Suki Waterhouse, who called the show “absolutely stunning.” “Those drama-crazy hats, scarves that look like blankets. It was everything it needed to be.”

Byrne said the clothes were “gorgeous” and so wearable. “(I’m) obsessed with the oversized suits already. The classic big coats, the beautiful chic dresses. Classic Michael Kors, he always delivers."

Suni Lee arrives at the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Suni Lee arrives at the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Leni Klum arrives at the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Leni Klum arrives at the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Suki Waterhouse arrives at the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Suki Waterhouse arrives at the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Rose Byrne arrives at the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Rose Byrne arrives at the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Delilah Hamlin, left, and Lisa Rinna arrive at the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Delilah Hamlin, left, and Lisa Rinna arrive at the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Rachel Zegler arrives at the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Rachel Zegler arrives at the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

CORRECTS EVENT - Kerry Washington attends the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

CORRECTS EVENT - Kerry Washington attends the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

CORRECTS EVENT - Rachel Brosnahan attends the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

CORRECTS EVENT - Rachel Brosnahan attends the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

CORRECTS EVENT - Nicole Scherzinger attends the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

CORRECTS EVENT - Nicole Scherzinger attends the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

CORRECTS EVENT - Lea Michele attends the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

CORRECTS EVENT - Lea Michele attends the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

A model walks the runway during the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

A model walks the runway during the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Models walk the runway during the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Models walk the runway during the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

A model walks the runway during the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

A model walks the runway during the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Models walk the runway during the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Models walk the runway during the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

A model walks the runway during the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

A model walks the runway during the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Models walk the runway during the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Models walk the runway during the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

A model walks the runway during the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

A model walks the runway during the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Models walk the runway during the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Models walk the runway during the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Models walk the runway during the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Models walk the runway during the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Models walk the runway during the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Models walk the runway during the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Models walk the runway during the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Models walk the runway during the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Michael Kors walks the runway during the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Michael Kors walks the runway during the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Models walk the runway during the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Models walk the runway during the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

A model walks the runway during the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

A model walks the runway during the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Models walk the runway during the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Models walk the runway during the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2025 fashion show as part of New York Fashion Week on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at Terminal Warehouse in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

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