Land Trust Alliance Blog: No Child Left Inside

The Land Trust Alliance is a great resource in keeping up to date on land trust initiatives throughout the country. Here’s a helpful article, written by Rob Aldrich, community conservation director for the Land Trust Alliance, about what one land trust is doing to encourage reconnecting with nature for children.

Imagine if every student in every school in your land trust’s region went outside regularly for meaningful learning and stewardship. And the school administration appreciated you — so much so that they accepted liability for the activities. And the teachers appreciated you for giving them the knowledge, materials and comfort to teach outside, engaging their students in new ways. And the students appreciated you for making learning even more fun.

Over the past 15 years, Rob Wade and the accredited Feather River Land Trust have accomplished all that in Northern California through their Learning Landscapes program. And this is just one of many successful efforts by land trusts across the country that has prioritized a K-12 community conservation focus.

There has never been a better time for land trusts and schools to unite around the shared goal of bringing kids outdoors. In the past decade, environmental education efforts have gained traction nationwide with the “No Child Left Inside” movement, which gets kids off their devices and into nature. Schools are pushing for more training in science, technology, engineering and math, plus environmental literacy opportunities, and many states are championing real-world application of science and engineering. Study and stewardship of the land is a natural fit, and schools everywhere are looking for partners and programs to help them achieve these many goals.

“Learning Landscapes has made learning incredibly fun both for me and my students,” said Bette Burney, a second-grade teacher at C. Roy Carmichael Elementary School in Portola, California. “The more I attend trainings and learn about my landscape, the more I incorporate these things into what we’re doing in the classroom.”

As Feather River Land Trust’s Learning Landscapes coordinator, Rob has fielded requests from land trust professionals nationwide who want to talk about their K-12 programs and learn more about his. He decided to team up with the Land Trust Alliance to create a community of practice on The Learning Center for land trust folks interested in connecting kids to nature, each other and their communities. He is working with the Alliance and several national K-12 leaders to develop a robust and effective network and resource for anyone seeking support.

To access the materials, log in to The Learning Center, creating a free account, if necessary. Once logged in, mouse over the left-hand blue bar, select Collaboration, then select Forums, then scroll down and click on Land Trust K-12 Educators.

Originally published on the LTA blog. K-12 photo by Colleen Griffin.