About Michele
Michele Whiteaker is a mom of two teens who believes in the power of parents and caregivers to give the children in their lives the gift of nature time. She is widely quoted for coining the term “hummingbird parent” to explain a parenting strategy which allows kids some autonomy outdoors. She's spent the past decade building her free online community resource called FunOrangeCountyParks.com with over 300 parks to empower local Orange County families to get outdoors. Michele is also a National Association for Interpretation Certified Interpretive Guide which helps her tell stories and develop social media strategies for engaging online audiences.
In September 2007, I enrolled my son in kindergarten at our local elementary school. I have a clear memory of a parent-teacher association meeting where I spontaneously asked about the potential for installing a garden on school grounds. “We don’t have a hose bib,” they answered, “so it won’t work.” End of story. By my […]