Learning in the Great Outdoors Photo courtesy of The Ecology School By Marcetta Davis-Linton
Nature can teach us many things, and that is what The Ecology School is doing. Nestled on a farm in Maine, nature and education meet. However, COVID-19 changed a lot about the way we live. The Ecology School website said, “The ability to understand and make connections is the ability that we'll all need to make it through the 21st century." We are all shifting our routines to live in this pandemic and while people are spending more time outside, our awareness of nature is different. Many of our outdoor actions are destructive to nature. It's essential to know how everything connects so we can understand the impact of our efforts. The shift to outdoor classrooms is an opportunity to teach the next generation how we can be outside, while also being respectful to nature. There's a tremendous pressure to go green and transform our lifestyles to create impact. For most of us, a few small steps lead to more significant routines. The Ecology School encourages connection to the natural world through curiosity, fun, and whimsy. If you can start asking questions about how things connect, you'll begin to go green just by exploring how everything in our world is interwoven. The Ecology School is raising funds to build the most sustainable environmental learning center in the United States at River Bend Farm. The move will propel educational initiatives by increasing program capacity and providing opportunities for participants through hands-on exploration of Maine's ecosystems, sustainable living practices, direct connection to food systems, farming and conservation-in-action. The Ecology School works with experts in the field of outdoor learning and integrating the required curriculum into outdoor education. They’ve done this for 20 years and look forward to bringing students to learn at River Bend Farm. Learn more at TheEcologySchool.org
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Marcetta Davis-Linton is an aspiring environmental journalist, with her Masters in NewsMedia and Journalism from Full Sail University. She created OneNatureOnePlanet.com and lives in Florida with her husband, Michael and three dogs Sadie, Fisher, and Beau. Facebook/onenatureoneplanet
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