Green Schoolyards America and Ten Strands announced on Aug. 30 the launch of the California Schoolyard Forest System℠, a statewide initiative in partnership with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) and the California Department of Education. The initiative will increase tree canopy on public school grounds across California to shade and […]
When the National COVID-19 Outdoor Learning Initiative (NCOLI) was launched at the height of the pandemic in 2020, it sought to stem the inequities in education exacerbated by COVID-19. Two years later, founding partners Ten Strands, Green Schoolyards America, the Lawrence Hall of Science, and San Mateo County Office of Education are considering the impact […]
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 March. The group had their panel, “Climate Resilient Schools, Future-Ready Students,” voted in as a […]
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.
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 before them, they see, hear, and feel local and global injustices in real time through […]
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, director of admissions. This interview was originally published as a case study on the National […]
This article originally appeared in GreenNotes, a publication of the Green Schools National Network, and was republished with permission. There’s no question that real work and research makes for more engaging learning. That’s never more obvious than when we put students at the center of a problem in a place that evokes curiosity and creativity […]
This interview originally appeared in Green Technology Magazine and was republished with permission. Sharon Danks describes the benefits that transforming schoolyards as public resources can bring to students, teachers, and communities. I was wondering if you can tell me what green schoolyards are, exactly? Green schoolyards are rich outdoor environments that strengthen local ecological systems, provide hands-on learning resources, […]