At Tacoma Tree Foundation, we believe that children’s learning shouldn’t be confined to the classroom. That’s why our Expanded Learning Opportunity program, Nature Explorers, takes Edison Elementary students outside to learn the science of the natural world around them. Research supports our belief in the value of time spent outdoors--children exposed to nature routinely report higher levels of happiness, satisfaction, and higher reported grades.

The Nature Explorers program is designed to help Tacoma Public Schools students reach those same outcomes. Each Nature Explorers session begins with an emotional check-in, a key part of any program in the Whole Child Partnership. Students then head out to the Edison garden to explore freely, plant, or observe their surroundings with the help of their Nature Explorers notebooks. Some days also include nature-themed crafts, all of which also help teach students natural sciences. During warmer weather, the program will take place entirely outside.

For Jessi Pickel, one of the Nature Explorers educators, what’s been most rewarding about this program has been “seeing the kids being eager to plant. Mostly they just liked digging holes, but they were always very excited when we brought things for them to put in those holes.” But she also emphasized that the learning about nature is only one part of what’s so rewarding for working this program. Emotional intelligence is also part of the curriculum, and students are encouraged and given “space to feel all feelings and know it's ok and...have some of the tools to” successfully acknowledge and manage those feelings.

Like other elements of the Whole Child Partnership, Expanded Learning Opportunities are programs that support students socially and emotionally as well as academically. It’s about giving students the tools to succeed not just in school, but also in life. We support that mission, and also have an additional one of our own: to teach students not just how to take care of themselves, but also how to be stewards of the environment around them.