Connecting Youth to Nature: Environmental Education’s Role in the Future of Wellbeing and Stewardship

During my childhood, I was constantly immersed in nature. Going to a Green Ribbon School, The College School (TCS), which was focused on outdoor experiential education, I developed a connection with nature early on in life. For nearly 60 years, TCS has integrated environmental education through its classroom curriculum, intensive local and regional field studies, week-long camping excursions, and a capstone field ecology study of ecosystems throughout the southeastern US wilderness. I attended TCS from Pre-K through 8th Grade and through my experiences there, I developed a close connection with nature and a deep love for learning. During the Kindergarten program, “Day in the Woods,” I explored and hiked in the wilderness for an entire day with my eager classmates. Like every campout or fieldtrip, we journaled, sketched, and reflected in our notebooks to capture our experiences. As I grew, the trips, campouts, and themes became more involved. In 3rd Grade, we created our own community, “River City,” where each student built a model of a business, community center, or public space alongside the river on campus. I chose to build a park and interviewed a parks manager to understand their perspective of what a park should be like and how it fits into the community.