I used to begin work each day by walking down a short trail to my office at Rancho Soñado. On the way down the hill, I’d pass fields of wildflowers where I encountered rabbits, deer, lizards, songbirds, an occasional snake,...
Ten Strands CEO, Karen Cowe, Sharon Danks, of Green Schoolyards America, Craig Strang, of The Lawrence Hall of Science, and Andra Yeghoian, of the San Mateo County Office of Education, will serve as panelists at the SXSW EDU Conference this...
Since May 2020, the National COVID-19 Outdoor Learning Initiative (NCOLI) has created dozens of free resources to support districts to center equity by returning students to school safely through the use of outdoor spaces for learning. In the spring and...
More than a year ago, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of traditional schools, residential outdoor science schools, and many other environmental education programs. After the initial shock of having to shut down the outdoor science programs that I managed,...
As students and educators return to the classroom, they encounter a challenging new world fueled by a global pandemic and academic inequality. Outdoor learning is helping to reimagine the educational environment and inspire the next generation of change-makers. FIVE BENEFITS...
Ten Strands CEO Karen Cowe, and Craig Strang, of the California Environmental Literacy Initiative Leadership Council, co-authored a piece in the Hechinger Report on the value of outdoor learning during the pandemic.
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Even before 2020, our young people experienced skyrocketing rates of anxiety, stress, trauma, and suicide. This generation of students faces the fear of school or neighborhood shootings, concern over police brutality and systemic racism, and eco-anxiety. More than any generation...
At the end of 2020, Karen Cowe, Ten Strands’ CEO, and Linda Livers, Ten Strands’ consultant, interviewed three staff members of the Park Day School in Oakland, California: Angela Taylor, head of school; Jennifer Cooper, facilities manager; and Josie Shapiro,...
Creative writing, poetry, and placemaking are all ways to connect complex scientific ideas and to explore relationships to the environment. Writing, and the various ways in which humans share ideas and stories, is also part of a longer tradition of...
Prologue: Costa Rica Early morning walks to meet the preschool microbús are my earliest memories of engaging the natural world. The sun was usually bright, but the pavement was wet from the predawn rain that routinely showered our suburb in...
