Outdoor Program Building

Outdoor Program Building: we partner directly with schools and organizations to build student-run outdoor programs that are responsive to the strengths, needs, and goals of the school community.

We partner directly with schools to build student-run outdoor programs that are responsive to the strengths, needs, and goals of the school/organization community. Our goals in working with schools is to build programming that:

• Maximizes student leadership opportunities
• Builds a safe, inclusive community particularly for students of color and low-income students who are marginalized by the outdoor education industry, and provides opportunities for success to students who are not always successful in an academic setting
• Is sustainable for teachers/educators to oversee,
• Is low-cost or externally funded, and
• Survives teacher/educator turnover and student leaders’ graduation/aging out

• First, we meet with administrators, organization leaders, students, teachers, and/or educators who are interested in building outdoor programming at their school or organization.
• We use these meetings to better understand their objectives for outdoor programming, the needs and strengths of the young people they work with, and the pre-existing assets of interested teachers/educators and potential student leaders. We also discuss examples of pre-existing outdoor programs to see what structures and desired outcomes make sense for this specific school.
• We then craft a proposal tailored to the partner school that outlines a proposed structure for outdoor programming at their school and training we can provide for teachers and students.
• We will then facilitate the necessary training for teacher- and student-leaders, create any systems, structures, or documentation the program needs, and continue to consult with them during the initial phase of their program’s implementation.

Professional Development

Professional Development: In partnership with a school or organization, we build professional development workshops on a number of topics, including experiential, place-based, project-based, and outdoor learning. Through facilitation of this type of professional development, we can help schools and organizations bridge the world’s of youth development and classroom education.

• Outdoor learning: Outdoor learning has become increasingly popular during the pandemic because of its mental and physical health benefits. However, access and implementation remain inequitable. It is often adopted by schools that have the financial resources to build outdoor learning spaces; it is also adopted mostly by elementary and middle schools. We believe that schools don’t need extra funding to implement outdoor learning opportunities with their students, and that high school students can still engage in rigorous learning outdoors. Therefore, we lead workshops that push educators to think about how they can use materials and spaces they already have to implement structures, routines, and curriculum outside, in ways that are equitable, engaging, and rigorous.
• Project-based learning: both founders have taught in project-based learning schools to facilitate engaging, rigorous, and authentic projects with students, that simultaneously build academic skills and social-emotional learning. Using our experience, our training, and research-proven PBL techniques, we build workshops that push teachers and educators to think about how they can take the curriculum they are already implementing, and turn it into an authentic, student-centered project.
• Experiential-learning: both founders have also facilitated experiential-learning programs that bring students outside of the classroom to places within or beyond their community in order to make learning more engaging and to expand their perspective. We work with educators to design experiences for their students that are not just your average field trip, but authentically tie into their classroom learning, expand their perspectives, and push them to actively engage with the people and places around them.

• Similar to building outdoor programs, we meet with administrators, organization leaders, students, teachers, and/or educators who are interested in partnering with us to facilitate professional development.
• We use these meetings to better understand their objectives for professional development and the needs and strengths of the young people they work with. We also discuss examples workshops that we have implemented in the past.
• We then craft a proposal tailored to the partner school that outlines our proposed workshops; after finalizing these workshops, we will facilitate them either virtually or in-person.