Meet Gary and Rebecca Peplow, Education Docents at Oak Glen Preserve
Gary and Rebecca Peplow, Docents for The Wildlands Conservancy
“The preserve is a place for learning, but also a place to feel peace. It’s a refuge.” - Gary Peplow
Gary and Rebecca Peplow, retired school teachers, volunteer as education docents for The Wildlands Conservancy at Oak Glen Preserve. Rebecca and Gary have a long history of enjoying the trails at Oak Glen Preserve, dating all the way back to 1997 when they would bring their own children to the preserve to hike the trails and enjoy being out in nature as a family.
After serving for 16 years in the United States Air Force, Gary had a rewarding career as an elementary school teacher spanning over two decades. During his career as a fourth grade teacher, Gary would often chaperone his school classes on field trips to The Wildlands Conservancy’s Oak Glen Preserve.
Rebecca met Gary in highschool after her parents relocated to Oak Glen, California not far from Oak Glen Preserve. They eventually married in 1979, and have spent their life together raising a family and making an impact in their community as educators, Rebecca teaching middle and high school math.
When Gary and Rebecca’s children were elementary school aged, Rebecca recalls hiking along the Stream Trail at Oak Glen Preserve and coming across a sapling tree near a sign saying ‘Help water the trees and watch them grow’. From that day on, they routinely visited the preserve as a family to water this young tree, fostering a special connection to the tree and also to the preserve. Rebecca and Gary continue to admire this same tree today with the next generation as volunteer docents for the outdoor education program at Oak Glen Preserve.
Gary began volunteering with Wildlands in 2021, and it wasn’t long after that Rebecca joined his side, working in tandem to further the mission of The Wildlands Conservancy.
“It’s not uncommon for a child to show up to the preserve on a field trip, and for it to be their first time experiencing the forest. A lot of times, they have some amount of fear but we meet them where they are at, and help to transform any trepidation into excitement,” says Gary.
“In the classroom kids play a role, socially. But when they come up to a place like Oak Glen, all those kids who are on the backburner in the classroom have their time to shine. The outdoors serve as an equalizer, a place to be free.”
Rebecca is drawn into the mission of Wildlands because of the importance placed on educating children, and the idea that all of our preserves are free, forever and always. At the end of the day, she always reminds the school children leaving from their field trips that they are welcome back anytime, and that it is free of charge. It’s really satisfying when she sees a child from a previous field trip, returning with their families, proudly leading the way.
“All my life I’ve always looked for that one thing, that one hobby or special interest, and I never found it until I started working up at Oak Glen. I now feel like I’ve found my special purpose in life — something that makes me feel good, something that makes me feel like I’m able to contribute and help make a difference in someone else’s life — to me this is my special happy place. I just love being up here,” Rebecca says.
Gary echoes Rebecca’s sentiments and feels they make the most impact in this world by working with kids, sharing knowledge and a love for the natural world.
Gary and Rebecca have had the chance to visit nearly all of The Wildland Conservancy’s nature preserves.
“The vastness of the whole Wildlands system is just astonishing. Going to Beaver Valley, where coho salmon are being protected, or Wind Wolves where tule elk roam, or Seawood Cape which provides vital habitat for Pacific tailed frogs— to visit the extensive patchwork of places where Wildlands is protecting biodiversity is incredible,” says Gary.
Open-minded and curious with a passion for learning and adventure, Gary and Rebecca enjoy traveling the world and visiting new places any chance they get. They spent time living overseas in England with the Air Force, and have been eager to resume traveling and exploring during their retirement years. They’ve most recently traveled to China, Germany, and Spain and have plans to visit Ireland later this spring.
The Wildlands Conservancy relies on generous support from our docents and volunteers to help further our mission in the areas of land stewardship and free outdoor education. If you’d like to get involved, learn more about our docent program or volunteer opportunities by visiting our volunteer page.