Getting to see a live wild animal up close beats staring at a screen for just about anybody, big or small. Our guests today have witnessed that firsthand and are building out their family education program based on it.

We are joined today by Seth Oglesby and Susan Zelinski from Arc of Appalachia’s Nature is Neat program. They are in the early growing stages of the South-Central Ohio program, bringing on more volunteer naturalists and a full-time education coordinator. Their passion is palpable.

We dive into all the segments they include in their once-a-month programming: An activity, interactive learning, themed hikes, meeting a live animal, and a craft kids can take home to continue their learning. They emphasize that the program is for the whole family, creating meaningful moments of nature immersion and learning that will have a long term impact on everyone.

To learn more, visit: pastfoundation.org

We unbox:

• How nature lends itself to immersive learning
• The power of volunteer naturalists in education
• Creating a program that is great for kids and parents alike

Resources:

• Learn more about Nature is Neat

Produced by NOVA Media

Play is powerful. Not only is it critical to the individual development of children, but it can create schoolwide cultures of inclusion, celebration, and healthy conflict resolution. No one knows this better than our guest on the show today, Elizabeth Cushing, CEO of Playworks.

For almost 30 years, Playworks has worked to give kids a safe, healthy, inclusive recess experience. They partner with schools, starting with a Great Recess Framework evaluation. Then they place Playworks staff at the schools for recess, implementing the basics: Rock, paper, scissors as a conflict resolution tool; high fives; and positive language coming from adults. Plus, they train near-peer mentors as Junior Coaches, allowing kids to shine as leaders at their school.

Beyond discussing the importance of play, both for kids and adults, we also dive into Playworks’ approach to sharing its practices with other organizations. Often nonprofits hesitate to share their “secret sauce” with other nonprofits, not wanting to risk their piece of the funding pie. Elizabeth explains how, for the sake of helping as many kids as possible, Playworks moved past this.

In fact, you can check out Playworks’ free YouTube resources after you listen to the show!

To learn more, visit: pastfoundation.org

We unbox:

• How recess can set the tone for the whole day
• The basics norms Playworks establishes for recesses
• Why Playworks now makes its practices available to other organizations

Resources:

• Watch hundreds of instructional game videos on the Playworks YouTube channel
• Take the Recess Checkup at RecessLab.org

Produced by NOVA Media

Almost ten years ago, Tom Thorpe wanted to create a learning environment that was embedded in the community and shaped around individual students. Today, REDI Lab, a “school within a school,” is physically located in a Denver Housing Authority neighborhood and sees over 100 students create their own learning path every year.

As our guest today, Tom tells us the origin story and evolution of the Research Entrepreneurship, Design, & Inquiry Lab at Colorado Academy. He walks us through the trimester-long program: Teaching self-empathy and self-discovery, letting students dwell in problem-solving stages, and putting process over product.

We also talk about the importance of developing teacher agency alongside student agency, including what that may look like in terms of experimentation and assessment.

Tom does an excellent job weaving together his real world experience and pedagogical theory. Enjoy!

To learn more, visit: pastfoundation.org

We unbox:

• Teaching students self-empathy and self-discovery
• REDI Lab’s emphasis on process over product
• Why teacher agency must grow alongside student agency

Resources:

• Learn more at ColoradoAcademy.org/REDI-lab-at-ca

Produced by NOVA Media