Good Natured Learning is here to make sure students and educators get daily doses of "Vitamin N"ature at school. We are doing this because we know - and research supports - the myriad benefits of nature connection for humans, especially learners, including:🌿 increased mental and physical wellness🌿 improved cognition🌿 enhanced social emotional & 21st Century skills🌿 joy!And, we are motivated by the planetary benefits too:🌍 More people who feel emotionally connected to the planet🌏 More people who act with compassion for other-than-human nature

Our public schools need Nature Based Learning (NBL) - teaching students outdoors or bringing elements of nature indoors. Schools are facing a wave of challenges undermining teacher morale, student engagement and wellbeing, a love of learning, and social justice. Nature Based Learning can help create healthier, safer, and more equitable educational experiences for our students and educators. We want to create a world where all kids have access to Nature Based Learning -- and healing -- in their daily school experiences. From taking students outside to bringing components of nature into classrooms, research shows that any amount of nature in any content area or grade level leads to positive impacts. These interventions can be easily integrated into classroom design (e.g., more plants in classrooms) and into daily instructional practices (e.g., playing birdsong during student work time). Better still, with a little support, educators can take students outside of the school building to conduct lessons in nearby nature.We're growing a movement to support daily nature dosage in school because that is where the kids are, and because the benefits - from mental health to social-emotional learning to cognitive function - are so compelling. Will you join us? Reach out to becca@goodnaturedlearning.org

I designed and led a 6-day “Brains on Nature: Educators’ Professional Development Workshop” continuing education course with Colorado Mountain College - Leadville. The course features scientific data about the cognitive and social-emotional benefits of nature-based learning and field-tested guidance about how educators can increase and improve nature-based learning opportunities for their students within the constraints of public school systems. Additionally, I instruct the Wilderness Experience course in Colorado Mountain College’s Outdoor Recreation Leadership program. The course focuses on backcountry travel and camping skills and leadership and community skills. Students build their technical expertise on everything from cooking over a 1-burner backpacking stove to how to give feedback — and then put their skills to the test during a 6-day backpacking trip in the canyons of Utah. Check out the video to get a better sense of the course!

As Interim Director, I supported Get Outdoors Leadville! through its first major leadership transition. From managing the team to leading the hiring process employing DEI best practices, I worked to keep GOL! running strong until a new leader could be found.Additionally, I led the revision of GOL!'s gear lending practices and membership structures to better align with GOL!'s core value of equity, oversaw the final touches on the new Community Gear Library facility, and planned and implemented a grand opening event celebrating the new facility.

Working for GOL! in Lake County School District as the Community Learning Director (Nature-based Learning Director), I collaborated with teachers and administrators and local partners in service of district goals, EL design principles, CO state standards, and GOL!'s mission to ensure all students, regardless of identity, have access to authentic, equitable, and inclusive nature-based learning opportunities throughout their K-12 careers. For an overview of the K-12 nature-based learning progression, visit: https://www.lakecountyschools.net/nature-based-learning-in-lake-county-school-district/Some Highlights:*Woods & Fly Fishing: In this semester-long course, students tie flies, fly fish in local waterways, and learn directly from Colorado Parks and Wildlife rangers, Trout Unlimited volunteers, experienced fly fishing guides, and local conservationists. After the fly fishing component of the course wraps up, students work with Lake County Open Space Initiative and the Leadville Ranger District to build conservation-related projects for riparian areas. Check out the video!*Wilderness Experience course: This semester-long Colorado Mountain College’s course focuses on backcountry travel and camping skills and leadership and community skills. Students build their technical expertise on everything from cooking over a 1-burner backpacking stove to how to give feedback — and then put their skills to the test during a 6-day backpacking trip in the canyons of Utah. Check out the video!*2nd Day Supports Program: An innovative return to in-person learning leveraging outdoor experiences to support students' social-emotional wellbeing See the "inspiring case studies" profile on the national Green Schoolyards America website linked below. *Taking Kids Outdoors: A 4-hour workshop for teachers and administrators, “Taking Kids Outdoors” (TKO), focuses on nature-based learning pedagogy, best practices in risk management, and creating equitable outdoor learning experiences.

Working for Lake County Build a Generation on the Get Outdoors Leadville! project, I co-facilitated the planning process for Leadville/Lake County's "Generation Wild" (formerly known as the Inspire Initiative, through Great Outdoors Colorado) to connect local youth and families to nature. In a year-long planning process, we engaged diverse stakeholders including youth, agency leaders, business owners, and Latinx "promotores" (members of our underserved, predominantly Latino, population). In this role, I:• Listened to community needs, desires, and ideas.• Prioritized reports and findings from the Promotoras and Youth Researchers, centering these voices in the design process.• Collaborated with school district personnel to develop innovative K-12 outdoor programming to enhance Board of Education district-wide goals.• Partnered with local governing bodies to advance infrastructure improvements aligned with better connecting youth and families to the outdoors.• Communicated with local politicians, coalition members, and community members.• Together with a diverse coalition, built a shared “Inspire” vision for overcoming barriers to better connect youth and families with the outdoors.• Co-led the proposal and budget-writing process; in December 2016, GOL! was awarded $3 million to implement the coalition's vision, the largest such award in the state.GOL!’s design and implementation were integral parts of our community receiving the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s national “Culture of Health” Award in 2019.