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Resource Report - 19 Community Nature Foundation & Fern Gully Forest School · Resource Report

0:20
Hello and welcome to Resource Report, where we
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share with you important information about local
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nonprofits and resource organizations that support
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the community we share, produced by Pathways
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to Agency. I am your host, Rainmaker. Today we
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feature the Community Nature Foundation and Fern
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Gully Forest School with Lindsey Wonder and Charissa
0:43
Waters. Here's Charissa and Lindsey. I am here
0:55
at KAOS Radio in the production studio with
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Lindsey Wonder and Charissa Waters with Community
1:03
Nature Foundation and Fern Gully Forest School.
1:07
How are you guys doing today? We're great. Thank
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you so much for having us. You're welcome so
1:12
much. Can you please introduce yourselves, your
1:17
position, and how did you come to be here with
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Community Nature Foundation and the Fern Gully
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Forest School? Yeah, I'm Charissa, and Lindsey
1:27
and I were a part of a group of mothers and educators
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that started the nonprofit Community Nature Foundation
1:33
to purchase and protect a local community forest
1:38
for the forest school that we started during
1:40
COVID. We were looking for something like it
1:43
for our children, couldn't find anything like
1:45
it in the community. And with our experience
1:47
and our community support, we were able to start
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the nonprofit and the forest school. Wow, awesome.
1:54
Yeah, it's been an amazing journey. Yeah, we
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started the school partially as a response to
2:00
the pandemic in 2020 because we were able to
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create the school for a school preschool with
2:11
the kids being outside all the time and being
2:14
unmasked. during that time so that they could
2:18
have the full access to their teachers' communication,
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their faces, the faces of their friends, and
2:25
being able to be all outdoors. Creating that
2:29
allowed us to meet the health and safety guidelines
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for our community and provide our kids with the
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social -emotional connection that they really
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needed during that time. So it was a nice fit
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for the community and our families. That's awesome.
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Yeah. Wow. Yeah. And so can you say a little
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bit more about what the Community Nature Foundation
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is, what y 'all really do? Yeah. So we do grassroots
3:02
fundraisers, some really fun community events
3:05
to raise funds to purchase and protect more of
3:08
this community forest, Fern Gully Forest. It's
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an urban forest located in Olympia. within the
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city limits it's a very small but mighty forest
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it's kind of a hidden gem you wouldn't know it
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was back there and when you're in the forest
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you wouldn't know you're in the city and we had
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been looking around for other land trusts when
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we found out that this forest could be sold and
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developed we were looking to see who could help
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us to protect it and there were no other community
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organizations in the area that do small urban
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forests protection. There were others that do
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larger areas of forest protection, farmland production,
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or endangered species protection. So because
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there was nothing like it, and we were already
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working to start the forest school for our own
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children, we decided to start the nonprofit with
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our community support in order to meet that need
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as well. And then the Fern Gully Forest School
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aspect? Yeah, so the forest school has been thriving
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Since 2020? Yeah, 2021. So the forest school
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originally was a business, an LLC. And as we
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developed the nonprofit, we eventually chose
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to dissolve the LLC as far as like licensing
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and that kind of stuff goes. And bring all of
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our youth programming, including summer camps,
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spring break camps, and now a program that we
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offer for older children ages 6 through 12 during
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the school year. So we brought all of that programming
4:47
under the nonprofit. So that's been a big shift.
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Yeah, we did that last year because we originally
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we had a piece of the forest donated to us in
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loving memory of Vicky Friend, who was a brother
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and sister who had inherited the piece of forest.
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And they sent a letter to all the neighbors letting
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them know that they were trying to sell it. And
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we hadn't known that that forest could be sold
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and developed. It was like a greenway. We thought
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that it was already protected. It was behind
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the forest school that we were starting. And
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we contacted them and let them know what we were
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doing, our vision. They were very supportive,
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ended up donating it to us once we finally got
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all of the paperwork back from the IRS and got
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official 501(c)3 nonprofit status. So they donated
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that piece in 2021. And then we were able to
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purchase just last year the neighbor's house
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that came with another two acres of the forest
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and the creek access. There's Indian Creek there.
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And it's right on the border of Woodland Trail
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System as well. So it's a really nice central
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location, walkable, bikeable to get to forest
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school. And so that's the location we've created
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another outdoor classroom for the older kids.
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There are six to 12 year olds homeschool enrichment
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classes. That's fabulous. That's awesome. How
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very lucky for y 'all, especially that y 'all
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were able to get that house. Yeah, it was amazing
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timing. That was just over a year ago. Yeah,
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we got a loan from the Washington Community Reinvestment
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Association. They're also a women -run nonprofit
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based in Seattle, and they invest in community.
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just really loved what we were doing. We had
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a proposal for the community nature center there,
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and they really loved and supported that and
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provided a great loan for us to be able to do
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that. We are still working on purchasing and
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protecting about another acre that's remaining
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of Fern Gully Forest. It is owned by a small development
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company who has also been really supportive of
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our vision for it. They are, you know, needing
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and wanting quite a high value for that property.
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So it's been on hold for a while, especially
6:55
last year as we were purchasing the neighbor's
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house and two more acres of the forest. So we
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have about three acres of the forest protected
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currently in the Community Nature Foundation.
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And we are still raising funds and doing community
7:11
events to be able to purchase and protect the
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remaining forest. Awesome. Yeah, that section
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has the old growth trees, big red western cedar
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trees. So it's a really important part of the
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forest that we're still working to protect. Nice.
7:30
Yeah, that piece of the forest that is currently
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for sale is in the middle of Fern Gully Forest.
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So it's a very critical piece of the whole forest.
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It's right in the middle of everything. we were
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doing right now so we just we need to do that
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as quickly as possible um and also i feel that
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that it's it's it's coming so we're looking forward
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to that if you if you want to support that come
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help? Ideally, yeah, ideally, we would raise
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the $175 ,000 that they're asking for. It is a
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small family owned company, and they need it
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for their what they've told us is medical bills
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and things. So they really do need that money.
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So ideally, win win situation, you know, we are
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able to find a donor that can support the urban
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conservation of the for the urban forest, excuse
8:22
me. But also, it's just, it's really A piece
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of what we're doing right now to prove that it
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needs to be protected is looking for wildlife
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biologists, wetland scientists who can do some
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of those studies to help us show that it should
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already be protected. My background is in conservation
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and protection. So I have done a lot of that
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work. And the only kind of barrier to that right
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now is the funding to do those studies there.
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Awesome. I want to go back really quick for a
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second. So when you were mentioning that you
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switched over from an LLC to a nonprofit, this
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might explain why if anyone right now were to
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go and Google the Fern Gully Forest School, there
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are two websites, and... okay. So that explains
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that. Yeah. Our first website, ferngullyschool
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.com, still comes up first on Google. And most
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people know that. So we have kept it active.
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That mostly has our information for our preschool.
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We also do have a page on there that has information
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for the homeschool enrichment programs. But if
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you're curious about all of our programs, including
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the conservation piece and our community events,
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you'd want to go to communitynature .org. Okay.
9:39
Thank you for that clarification. Now, is the
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original website going to eventually disappear?
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Eventually, once we figure out the Google SEO
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to improve the other website, yes. It's a process.
9:51
Okay. Yeah. And then y 'all will have, like, notifications
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up about that when the change is ready to be
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made. And we do work to keep that original website
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accurate as well. So if people... Find that.
10:06
That's fine. Also, there's just more info on
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communitynature .org. And are there links to
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communitynature .org from the first website?
10:16
Yes, especially on the admissions page of the
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first website if they're looking to enroll. And
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there's links on how to get to Community Nature
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Foundation's website. And that is really... has
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a lot more information on there. There's also
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more information on our Facebook page. Fern Gully
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School is the tag for that. And that has both
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the nonprofit and the Nature Wise programs and
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the forest preschool. Okay, good to know. Good
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to know. Now, why a forest school? What's up
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with that? Okay, I want to shoot at that one.
10:48
I love that. So the reason that I particularly
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love the forest school model which we draw a
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lot from is uh being able to foster this environment
11:08
and social structure through our teaching and
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guidance capacity with the kids.. um.. where they
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are constantly encountering their own growing
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capacity through all these challenges that they
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come up on. If it's they want to be able to climb
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out across on a log or run and jump over things
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in the woods or, you know, of course, learn to
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sort out social issues with their friends. I
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love that the focus is on really encountering
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our capacity in times of challenge. For me personally,
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that's the takeaway for me from the forest school
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model. And there are lots of different ways to
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do forest school. There's wonderful lineages
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across the globe where people have chosen to
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have their children cared for, guided, taught
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outside in all weather. And so we do that too.
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Our kids just have, you know, we follow the local
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Olympia School District, the OSD school calendar.
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We do have covered areas and some warm up areas,
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but all the kids just have fantastic rain gear.
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So do the teachers. And, you know, we have a
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fairly temperate climate here. But it's still
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that challenge sometimes too of just being out
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in the weather. And feeling the wholeness of
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being human outside with the plants, with the
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trees, with each other, with the water. It's
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just super fun. I love it so much. So we do a
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lot of native plant study, teaching the children
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about shelter building, making fires, understanding
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the water quality in the stream, understanding
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the local animals. watching for their signs and
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their life cycles, all in relation to who we
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are as humans and who we are socially and who
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we are as part of that whole. So we do primarily
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draw from the forest school pedagogy, but we
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also bring in some Waldorf inspiration. A lot
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of our founding board members and mothers were
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Waldorf educators. So we love to bring in a lot
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of that. primarily with seasonal celebrations.
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We do a winter solstice candle making and spiral
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walk. We also do harvest parties and community
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events. A big part of what we're doing is community
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building as well and parent support, especially
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homeschool support. But all of the parents also
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need some social interaction as much as our children
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do. We also need that connection. So we really
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follow the four realms of awareness and connection.
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We journey through that in both the preschool
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and the Nature Wise program for older kids. The
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circle is for community, but there's also self
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-connection and awareness that we're bringing
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in with our curriculum of mindfulness. We do
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meditation practices and yoga and then nature
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connection, of course, and wild crafting, ancestral
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skills, survival skills. So there's a lot interdisciplinary
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that we bring in that's really holistic education.
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Yeah, I think that the holistic education piece
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that you we have found, you will find we have
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found particularly. with the Waldorf schools.
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A lot of that, you know, really helping the children
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to be aware of and in their bodies, like a lot
15:11
of movement, a lot of focus on play and really
15:19
celebrating where the kids are at developmentally.
15:24
and having their academic interest be met appropriately
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based on their own development. That's something
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that I really took away from my experiences with
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Waldorf education. And yeah, I feel like that
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is one of the best things we can offer our kids
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is instead of trying to have them all do things
15:47
at the same time, really seeing where they are
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and meeting them. Which is, it's challenging,
15:53
but I think that's the way we all grow and learn.
15:55
So that's an important aspect of how we teach
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and encourage the kids. We also have Montessori
16:01
influence as well. Yeah, I think especially you.
16:05
confirm more of that so you want to speak to
16:07
her what that's yeah and there are people who
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are not familiar I'd love to have Montessori
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and Waldorf clarified right yeah I absolutely
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we use a lot of Montessori methods in our interactions
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with children and in our daily flow so it's a
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beautiful unstructured learning approach so there
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is of course the teachers are they're teaching
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and they are introducing subjects but then there's
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open stations where the children get to go to
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different materials and are able to learn in
16:46
a way that works best for them so it's very It's
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very child -centered, child -led. There are,
16:53
of course, teacher -led activities as well. So
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it's a balance between child -led and teacher
16:57
-led. There is free play and that kind of unstructured
17:02
play, which is also very important. Many studies
17:04
show the importance of that unstructured play
17:06
for children to be able to, like Lindsay was
17:10
saying, really test their boundaries and assess
17:13
risk for themselves. That risky play comes from
17:16
the four -school pedagogy, which is just such
17:19
a great way for to really understand their own
17:21
limits and gain self -esteem and self -confidence.
17:26
So they are learning through this unstructured
17:29
play and unstructured learning to really have
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self -motivation and develop this love for learning
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that can be really stamped out if they're forced
17:40
to learn or if they have to learn a certain thing
17:42
in a certain way. And that's just not their learning
17:45
style. There's not, you know, there's not one
17:48
box fits all children. They all need different
17:50
things. So we bring in a lot of different methods
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and approaches for each child. Yeah. That brings
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up something for me. I find that kids who are
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coming to us with their families knowing that
18:04
they are They're telling us that their kids are
18:07
neurodivergent. They're telling us that their
18:10
kids have been diagnosed with ADHD or autism
18:13
or various different challenges or ways of being.
18:18
And basically, we're encountering families pretty
18:23
often who are feeling challenged trying to help
18:29
their kids go to public school. And then, or
18:36
schools that are more structured like that, or
18:38
even day cares or different, different, you know,
18:43
cares or education that they're part of, whatever,
18:44
where they're finding these kids are just not
18:47
getting their needs met socially or for their
18:50
sensory needs. And I have had so much fun seeing.
18:57
Many kids come to us with their parents having
19:01
concerns about how they're going to do based
19:03
on past experiences and other types of learning
19:05
models. And these kids are thriving with us for
19:09
the most part. They really are because they can
19:11
play on the swings. They can eat whenever they're
19:14
hungry. They can jump on trampolines. They can
19:18
encounter plants and dirt. Oh, gosh, just get
19:25
so much nurturing. And we have pretty small groups
19:29
for the amount of, you know, like our student
19:34
to teacher ratio is very low. So we're right
19:38
there to help them when they have just issues
19:41
coming up. We do a lot of work with helping the
19:43
kids learn to regulate through, like Charissa
19:47
was saying, you know, meditation, mindfulness
19:50
practices, just self -awareness. Um, we put a
19:54
huge focus on that with our teachers for the
19:58
kids so that the kids can really be held when
20:01
they're having discomfort, if it's socially or
20:04
they're encountering their, just their own discomfort
20:07
about their environment or their food or whatever's
20:11
going on and really helping them through co -regulation
20:15
that we could offer them as well as many different
20:19
things that they can do. you know, various types
20:24
of crafting or building or just engaging with
20:29
different things physically with their hands
20:30
or like I said, swinging or that kind of stuff.
20:34
It could be petting the cat. That really helps
20:37
sometimes. And the rabbits.. animals, and having
20:39
that sweetness is really grounding for some kids.
20:42
Just being in nature is so healing. It's very
20:44
therapeutic. It's really amazing to see how these
20:49
children are just so different when they're in
20:52
nature based on what our parents do. what their
20:54
parents tell us. They are already just regulated
20:58
and ready to listen. They have increased attention
21:03
spans and they're much more engaged and wanting
21:07
to do the activities. It's really beautiful to
21:10
see how nature alone is so helpful for the children
21:14
just being outside. We like to say if a child
21:17
is bouncing off the walls, don't punish the child,
21:19
take away the walls. When you're coming out of
21:22
a school environment that has pressure and now
21:25
you have no pressure to perform, to be a certain
21:29
way, you know, that is extremely healing. Yeah,
21:34
it is. And we do have a very strong structure
21:37
of accountability, though, helping the children
21:40
learn to be accountable as they learn to regulate.
21:47
Then like next steps, like expressing their needs
21:50
and being accountable, like understanding their
21:52
feelings and be able to talk about those things.
21:55
But yes, being accountable for how they treat
21:58
others. That's a huge part of what we do. So
22:01
we do have expectations, but based upon just
22:04
how to be good people together. And I think that's
22:08
another thing that is really important in the
22:10
work that we do is helping the children understand
22:12
their capacity. how important they are to each
22:17
other. And I really try to, I like to focus on
22:21
encouraging them to be genuinely curious about
22:26
each other and remember that we're all friends
22:29
and to be kind. If we can stay with that and
22:34
give ourselves space when we're feeling uncomfortable
22:36
and ask for help if we're feeling uncomfortable,
22:38
that's kind of the basis of everything. Everything
22:41
comes back to that socially. When our expectation
22:44
is that they do have the capacity to learn to
22:49
regulate, they do have the capacity to learn
22:51
to talk about their feelings and ask for help.
22:53
They do have the capacity to be kind to each
22:56
other. Even if it's not their favorite person,
22:58
they have the capacity to be kind, you know.
23:00
I think that's it. It's like that expectation
23:02
that we have that they are capable and that they
23:06
are awesome people, you know, instead of coming
23:10
down on them for doing things in ways that may
23:14
be disruptive or hurtful to others sometimes.
23:17
Instead of coming down on that, being like, well,
23:19
okay, how did this happen? And always being available
23:22
for that work. That are very important to us.
23:25
And we want them to think about each other that
23:27
way and be supportive of each other in those
23:29
ways, too. Yeah, for sure. So we talked a little
23:44
bit about Montessori, but what about Waldorf?
23:47
How are they different? Oh, gosh. They both come
23:52
from just very different educators. Maria Montessori
23:56
created Montessori... I don't want to say school
24:03
necessarily, but she created a whole philosophy
24:05
around teaching and guiding and raising children,
24:09
which is very different from the Waldorf style
24:13
of education, which was created by Rudolf Steiner.
24:20
They're both wonderful and just very different.
24:24
Steiner was very excited about the ideas of a
24:31
holistic lifestyle for children based on their
24:36
development and a real inclusion as much as possible
24:40
throughout their daily rhythms. There's a lot
24:45
of emphasis on the rhythm of the day. in Waldorf
24:48
education and kind of doing things at the same
24:51
time every day and having the same, you know,
24:58
repetitive songs or experiences that create this
25:01
like grounding structure foundation. So some
25:05
of the ways that that's just one little piece.
25:08
I mean, Waldorf education is just a very unique.
25:11
A very unique practice. And I'm really grateful
25:15
for that influence in my own life. But I have
25:17
chosen not to just go teach at a Waldorf school,
25:21
which I used to think I would want to do. I really
25:24
like to mix in a lot of great Waldorf ideas and
25:31
practices and crafts and festivals. I like to
25:35
weave that in as part of my family life as I've
25:39
raised my kids and also our school. Yeah, so
25:42
I like the very practical applications of, I
25:47
remember one from a Waldorf parenting book was
25:50
like, oh, your two -year -old or three -year
25:52
-old is biting someone. I hand them a carrot
25:56
and say, "we bite carrots, not our friends". Just
26:00
like very practical and like, very, like, cause
26:02
and effect, but without shame or blame. And I
26:05
really like that. So anyway, that's a little
26:07
bit about that. Montessori is much more based
26:10
on offering the children a lot of different things.
26:14
Like Charissa was saying, we see that at our school
26:17
by having different stations set up. They're
26:20
always available. And there's always, for instance,
26:24
in the preschool, there's always the mud kitchen.
26:25
There's always the garden. There's always the
26:27
bunnies. There's always the dress -up area. There's
26:29
always the music. There's always the building
26:33
blocks area... or, um..oh gosh... Puppet theater. The puppet
26:38
theater! Right! The, um.. the painting area. You know
26:42
there's different things that the kids always
26:43
have access to so we do have periods of the day
26:45
at our school or at the preschool especially
26:49
but in both programs um where the kids have free
26:53
play uh they have free play in the woods and
26:57
also some loud activities in the woods the forest
26:59
but also in our preschool area where we have
27:03
all these things that I just mentioned, there
27:07
are certain chunks of the day that are just left
27:11
open for them to be able to play and engage in
27:17
all those different ways with the guidance and
27:19
support of their teachers, you know, as pertains
27:22
to any which one thing they do. But they have
27:25
a lot of freedom about when and how they want
27:27
to do those things. So I would say that is a
27:31
strong Montessori influence. Also, both Waldorf
27:34
and Montessori practices, as well as forest school,
27:39
have a huge emphasis on a really healthy, like
27:45
low toxin environment for children. So that being
27:50
like, you know, the types of images that they're
27:54
exposed to, the types of materials that they're
27:57
in contact with, with their hands. even as much
28:01
as the materials that we wear, you know, everything,
28:05
we impact everything, everything impacts us.
28:09
So for instance, Montessori and Waldorf, both
28:12
styles of education do not promote the use of
28:17
plastic toys or very much technology, especially
28:21
at an early age. So there's an emphasis on natural
28:25
materials, natural, like, I say natural, but like,
28:30
kids um kids want to play in the dirt so yeah
28:33
let's let's have them play in the dirt! Let's
28:34
have them climb a tree play with wooden blocks
28:36
like um be in contact with with things that are
28:40
um close to us of our own makeup does that make
28:44
sense i feel like I'm rambling about that but
28:46
um that's a big difference between walking into
28:48
some daycares or schools where you just see plastic
28:52
everywhere or you'll see you know just tons of
28:54
screens and computers everywhere and big screens
28:59
even in kindergartens these days I'm amazed by
29:02
that um because the kids are really needing to
29:06
learn to engage with our actual environment which
29:08
is the natural world as humans we have to be
29:13
able to do that so um that's like why we do the
29:16
forest school aspect of our work um particularly,
29:21
is to help the children continually engage with
29:25
the natural elements, being awareness of the
29:31
weather and the moon cycle and the seasons and
29:34
the longer days or the shorter days. What are
29:37
the plants doing right now? What are the animals
29:39
doing? And then relating that to how they feel
29:42
and what they're processing and what they're
29:44
thinking about and what are the things that we
29:46
do in our homes or in our communities during
29:48
these different seasons. I think it's very important
29:52
for children to have an understanding of basic
29:54
survival skills. So at our school, we do have
29:58
a strong emphasis on that. Instead of, say, like
30:02
a bunch of energy toward Tech education, we simply
30:07
don't do that at this point. I mean, lots of
30:11
people are doing that. We're offering a difference.
30:13
We want the kids to feel at home on the planet
30:15
as humans and understand how to take care of
30:18
themselves and each other practically and socially.
30:20
And that's why I love Forest School. So, yeah.
30:31
It sounds like a lot of overlap with unschooling
30:34
and homeschooling. Do you get a lot of homeschool,
30:37
unschool families? We do some, yes. And the program
30:45
that we're offering right now, which is called
30:47
Nature Wise, that's for children ages 6 through
30:50
12, Monday through Thursday for the school year
30:54
beginning September 3rd. And that's from 930
30:58
in the morning until 330 in the afternoon, Monday
31:00
through Thursday. We are we have created that
31:05
program as homeschool support. So there's different
31:11
ways that families who are currently enrolled
31:13
in public school can take part in that program,
31:16
which is you can find out how to do that by.
31:20
Give us a call if you want to talk about it or
31:23
email us. We'd be happy to support you. But going
31:27
to the school where you are or the school district
31:30
where you are and saying, hey, I'd like to pull
31:33
my kid, you know, one day a week or one half
31:35
day a week or whatever is right for your family
31:37
for nature enrichment classes. And we have the
31:41
right to do that as parents, which is really
31:43
neat. And it's actually a simple Google form
31:45
that the school districts have. It's an intent
31:48
to homeschool. Intent to homeschool. Yep. So
31:51
it's the part -time piece of that that I think
31:53
a lot of people are not aware of. So we want
31:55
to raise more awareness around that. And also,
31:59
we can support families who may have their kids
32:03
enrolled in the H -Connect program at the Olympia
32:06
Regional Learning Academy. We are right across
32:10
the street from there, just real close by. If
32:13
you were to look at a map, we are within walking
32:15
distance. So I'm really excited about that particular
32:19
community, which is already so close to our school,
32:23
like logistically right there. I'm excited about
32:26
those H -Connect parents, especially learning
32:29
that our program for six to 12 year olds now
32:32
exists just right there. So if they'd like to
32:35
do. You know, if they're over at ORLA and then
32:38
they want to do a couple days of forest school
32:41
or a half day of forest school, we're really
32:44
excited about learning how we can best serve
32:46
the homeschool community. So for now, we do have
32:49
that full availability Monday through Thursday,
32:52
930 to 330 for kids. And we're looking forward
32:57
to finding out like how many people want that
32:59
full time or part time or if some families are
33:02
really looking for like two half days or. We
33:05
don't really know. But I guess my point of this
33:07
part of the conversation is to say, hey, please
33:09
tell us what you want. We're here to serve you.
33:11
And we're really excited about seeing how we
33:14
can best assist families meet their needs. There's
33:18
so much there, which is just really awesome that
33:21
you really learn best in that actual environment
33:24
doing those things. So for sure, hands -on learning
33:29
is like a big thing. Yes, we're also very excited
33:32
to integrate the hands -on academics, hands -on
33:36
science and math and language arts and all of
33:40
the subjects that homeschool families need to
33:43
incorporate into their education plan in a really
33:46
fun out. door hands -on kind of way yeah we've
33:50
been working to create our curriculum based specifically
33:53
on those needs that some homeschool families
33:56
really want on all of these different things
34:00
which are generally referred to as subjects right
34:02
and so we are including that same uh that same
34:09
list basically in the curriculum that we're creating
34:12
but everything being through hands -on learning
34:15
so Yeah, I'm excited. Right on. So you have the
34:28
preschool? Correct. Yeah, the preschool is through
34:30
kindergarten program. So it's for ages three
34:32
to six. Do 9 to 1 primarily for the preschool
34:37
age. We also offer some aftercare programs. So
34:41
that's 9 a .m. to 1 p .m. Monday through Friday.
34:44
And then with an additional add -on possible
34:47
or a different time from 1 to 3PM as well for some
34:51
families. So those are our hours. We try to make
34:57
it as accessible as possible with a sliding scale
34:59
for families. And that is the honor system. So
35:04
if you go to their website and you look at the
35:06
admissions page or the programs page, you'll
35:08
see what the sliding scale is. And then we also
35:11
offer additional discounts for low income families
35:14
below the sliding scale. So it's really our effort
35:19
to make it as accessible as possible for all
35:21
incomes and backgrounds. people. We also offer
35:26
as the nonprofit some scholarships. And the more
35:29
donations we receive, the more scholarships we're
35:32
able to provide for really low income and at
35:35
risk or minority families. So that's a big goal
35:40
of ours now, especially is to increase that program
35:43
and the scholarship program. Yeah. Definitely.
35:46
That's good to hear. Something that I had thought
35:48
about, I actually have been homeless with my
35:51
children. Not everyone that's homeless wants
35:55
to be working under the McKinney Act and putting
35:57
their children in a school either, you know,
36:00
and so this could be a viable alternative for
36:05
them, potentially. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, many
36:09
of our founding mothers and directors were single
36:12
mothers and at some point have needed assistance.
36:15
So it's a big part of what we do in our mission
36:18
is to provide that support for people who need
36:21
it. And a lot of times it's temporary. Sometimes
36:25
it's ongoing. And we have that flexibility and
36:29
the community support to be able to provide that.
36:32
Flexibility is a key point there. Yeah. I mean,
36:37
as the nonprofit and Fern Gully School, we are
36:42
not part of the Olympia School District. We can
36:45
serve families who are part of the school district,
36:49
as we mentioned, by offering like a one day a
36:51
week pop-out or however much they want to our
36:54
homeschool families. But we are not part of the
36:58
Olympia School District. And so any particular
37:01
challenges that families have with. You know,
37:06
their own housing or lifestyle or whatever is
37:10
coming up for them with OSD is not the same for
37:17
us. We're a very different entity. And so you
37:28
have after school and camps, after school programs?
37:33
We have summer camps in the summer. We have not
37:37
opened our after school program. We do have an
37:39
interest list for that. So when we get a long
37:42
enough interest list, we would consider opening
37:44
an after school program. At the moment, we are
37:47
focusing on our preschool through kindergarten
37:49
program and the new Nature Wise program for kids
37:53
6 to 12. So that's 9:30AM to 3:30PM. So it's not really
37:57
after school. Oh, okay. Yeah. And we have had
37:59
after school programs in the past. And as Charissa
38:02
has said, we do have an interest list that we
38:04
are adding to at this time. So, you know, if
38:07
families are looking for that after 3PM type
38:12
care, you know, feel free to reach out to us
38:15
and let us know. And we will continue to get
38:18
that list together for us to be able to hire
38:21
teachers to get that program going, we would
38:25
just need to have enough people that really want
38:27
it to happen. And we've been in that position
38:29
before, and that's been great. And we're open
38:31
to doing it again if there is that need in the
38:34
community. You call it the camps for the summer,
38:44
but how is it different or the same from your
38:48
school year classes? Great question. Well, just
38:52
the nature of the season. So we're a seasonally
38:54
based school and program and our curriculums
38:59
are based seasonally. So in the summer, the kids
39:01
spend a lot of time in the creek. They spend
39:04
a lot of time picking blackberries. You know,
39:07
this year there was so many neat, amazing things
39:09
they did. But so you'll see the reflection of
39:12
the seasons in the curriculum, but also the energy
39:14
of the group. So when it's high summer and the
39:18
sun is shining bright and everybody's warm, it's
39:20
just such a different energy than January. What
39:23
are we doing together, right? So there's that.
39:27
Also, a lot of the kids who will have come to
39:30
summer camp, especially in that older group,
39:32
the 6 through 12 -year -olds, some of them have
39:34
been in public school for the year or doing other
39:39
things. And they really have a camp experience
39:43
with us that's a lot of outside games and activities
39:47
and crafts and gardening. and playing playing
39:51
playing with their friends outside um we do really
39:56
neat um like uh the missions what do we call
40:00
that like we're uh they'll have like a goal that
40:03
they work on together as the group team challenge
40:05
team challenge thank you so much yeah so we'll
40:07
have team challenges um we'll have team challenges
40:10
that we have them work on on do together based
40:14
on things that we're learning um I think it just
40:18
has a lot more element of like games and play
40:21
and wildness on a level. Yeah, we want them to
40:27
just come away feeling like they had a lot of
40:30
really high energy play in a way that's unique
40:34
to summer, right? And so it is really a year
40:37
round program that we offer in summer is that
40:40
camp element partially because of the difference
40:43
in the students that we have enrolled and what
40:46
they may be doing during some of the rest of
40:48
the year. And then the other is just the season.
40:51
We run it to be consistent for our current families
40:54
who need consistency and the children who also
40:57
need consistency. So it does run through the
41:00
whole summer. It is four week sessions. Generally,
41:05
we do open it to weekly enrollment for our older
41:08
Nature Wise program. But we do July and August
41:12
in order for, you know, the care to be very consistent.
41:17
We take one week off before school starts, but
41:19
that's it. Okay. Oh, good. Good to know. Thank
41:23
you for clarifying that. Yeah. So you're talking
41:33
specifically about age groups. Now, having a
41:39
child myself who's neurodivergent, sometimes
41:42
their physical age does not reflect their mental
41:47
or emotional age. And so I've been able to, in
41:52
the past, get my daughter into, like, we had
41:57
Outschool. There's something she wanted to do
41:59
on Outschool .com. Yes! Very familiar. Yeah, totally!
42:03
And so they had a certain cutoff age at, like,
42:06
15. My daughter was 16, 17. Yeah, 17. But really,
42:16
she was really on the same developmental level.
42:19
And so they let her in after a conversation.
42:22
Do you.. are y 'all flexible in that? That is
42:25
an amazing question. So at this time, we can
42:31
serve children up to age 13. I mean, 12, sorry,
42:35
12 in the particular program that we're offering
42:41
right now. We do want to expand in the future.
42:45
to serve older children as well. And we're excited
42:47
about that. But, you know, one thing at a time.
42:50
There is some flexibility as far as if your child
42:54
is under 12 or, you know, if they're 13 or 14,
42:58
but they have 11 or 12 year old development capacity,
43:01
like contact us. We'll talk about it. Yeah, there
43:04
is potential for that. That's such a relief
43:07
to hear that because, you know, it's just so
43:10
frustrating when you're confined in a certain
43:13
age number, but you don't conform to that age
43:16
number. Right. Narrative... Right. Right now. Well,
43:21
already with the two programs that we do offer,
43:23
the preschool and the Nature Wise, those are
43:27
all mixed age classes. And so like our preschool
43:30
is for children ages three through six. And then
43:33
our nature wise program is children six through
43:35
12. In the preschool, we have a ratio of six
43:40
kids to one teacher. And then in the Nature Ways
43:44
program, we're doing eight kids to one teacher.
43:47
And sometimes two. It just depends on the kids.
43:52
But generally, I was going to say, we may do more
43:56
teachers for those numbers. But generally, that's
44:01
what we do. So the kids just have... And even
44:05
though there are all those different ages together,
44:08
there is a lot of similarity developmentally.
44:10
And something that we're really excited about
44:12
is how the younger children interact and the
44:18
older children interact. You know, if you have
44:20
a five -year -old and a three -year -old, they're
44:22
going to be similar in some ways and different
44:23
in some ways. And they can work together and
44:25
help each other. I mean, that's how we appear
44:31
on the planet naturally as humans. We don't all
44:34
just come out as like, you know, I personally
44:37
prefer not to just have all one age of kids all
44:41
together all the time. I feel like they just
44:43
learn a lot more together being able to help
44:45
each other and teach each other things with those
44:48
mixed age groups. So that's like as far as lesson
44:53
planning or activities that we do, anything that
44:57
we're offering the kids, there's this whole range
45:00
of how different children are going to do the
45:03
same project based on who they are, their own
45:06
expression, and where they're at developmentally
45:11
as far as their interest levels, their skills,
45:13
their capacity to engage in different ways practically
45:16
as far as like crafting. learning about something
45:20
and then how do we express about what we just
45:22
learned it might be drawing it might be talking
45:24
about it it might be writing about it and that's
45:27
um or making a craft or whatever um or it might
45:32
be going and teaching about it right to the group
45:35
in a different way so anyway that's kind of a
45:37
little bit about our approach, which I feel is
45:39
relevant, around mixed age (R: Definitely.) groups, is
45:41
like, there's um there's a lot of opportunity
45:45
for the kids to just engage together and also
45:49
be met in their own unique development so yeah
45:53
so the age is like a little a little bit more
45:55
flexible i feel like thank you for for uh for
45:58
explaining that thank you so much. Good. What is
46:02
the process for enrollment? Yeah.. so you can just
46:06
email ferngullyschool@gmail .com or go to
46:10
our website communitynature .org programs Cool.
46:15
And so you said you're not part of OSD, but you
46:18
do follow the OSD school calendar? Correct. And
46:23
the enrollment is around those periods of time?
46:26
Correct. Yes, we have open enrollment currently.
46:28
We only have a few spaces left in our preschools
46:30
or kindergarten program, but we do have more
46:33
availability in our new Nature Wise program. Awesome.
46:38
How do you handle accessibility? Have you had
46:42
to manage with disabled students, children, wheelchairs?
46:48
What is the accessibility? We do have wheelchair
46:50
accessibility at our new Community Nature Center.
46:53
So that is a big part of our mission for the
46:57
new programs to make it more accessible for all
47:00
people of all income levels and all ability levels.
47:04
Awesome. Awesome. And what about language accessibility?
47:10
So do you have anyone bilingual with your teachers?
47:13
Not at this time, no. We've had Spanish bilingual
47:15
teachers in the past, and we are always looking
47:20
for that. It's always a great thing to have.
47:23
Awesome. It's just not a particular service that
47:25
we offer at this time. And I saw something about
47:28
community projects on your website? Now we have
47:31
some really fun community events and projects.
47:33
You can come in and help us pull ivy off of the
47:37
trees, there's an invasive English ivy, there is..
47:40
in the spring we often do like a spring equinox
47:46
egg hunt where the kids get to go and do an egg
47:48
hunt in the forest, that the parents come and
47:50
they're doing like a trash panda competition
47:52
to see who can pick up the most and clean up
47:55
the most. So we do restoration work in the forest
47:57
as well as just some really fun community projects.
48:01
There's gardens, especially at the new place..
48:03
we have a community garden space that we're working
48:05
to develop. So it really just depends on each
48:10
person's individual interests and how they want
48:11
to contribute. Welcome to send us an email. Again,
48:14
ferngullyschool@ gmail .com, and just let us
48:17
know if they want to get involved and be a part
48:19
of these fun projects. Yeah. And we're always
48:21
looking for ideas for projects, activities, events,
48:26
teachings, skill shares from members of our community
48:32
here in the local Olympia area or the South Sound.
48:37
uh people who are drawn to or share our values
48:41
and our mission for the kids and the community
48:43
and the forest um to come like get in touch with
48:48
us come check out the property check out the
48:50
forest check out the space that we have we want
48:53
to be uh gosh we want to be able to foster teachings
49:00
trainings skill shares um uh what's another word
49:07
for like practices like um you know different
49:11
healing practices or activating practices you
49:14
know it could be um different types of workshops
49:17
if people want to come and get in touch with
49:20
us about collaborating with us on the property
49:24
that we have to do community events that also
49:27
we may not have thought of yet or we may not
49:30
teach ourselves We're always interested in, again,
49:35
just collaborating. Please reach out to us if
49:37
anybody's interested in collaborating to help
49:40
create more resiliency and sharing of information
49:43
and good community practices. That's why we have
49:49
the Community Nature Center now. That's the heart
49:52
of it. It's a relatively new space to us still,
49:56
but we're really excited on being able to host
49:58
more things like that and collaborate. More and
50:02
more. Awesome. It has a nice big open community
50:05
gathering space. There's also a kitchen. So we're
50:08
looking at doing family cooking classes, maybe
50:11
some parent support groups and different things
50:13
like that there. Wonderful. Do you work with
50:17
indigenous tribes? Yeah, we work with Squaxin
50:20
Island tribe and we're partnering with them more
50:22
and more as we're developing this new program,
50:25
the Nature Wise curriculum. So they have some
50:28
really amazing ethnobotany curriculum. It's the
50:33
Cedar Box curriculum that they have at Squaxin
50:35
Island. We've also worked with Nisqually Tribe
50:37
as well. So we are always open to partnering
50:41
more as well. So if anyone has connections and
50:44
resources, please reach out. Fabulous. And then
50:50
how can people get involved? Yeah, reach out
50:53
to us and we can add you to our mailing list,
50:56
our email list. For starters, if we have work
50:59
parties or events upcoming, people can just reach
51:02
out and come ask to go take a tour if they're
51:06
interested in enrollment. We have tours available
51:10
regularly for any families who are interested
51:14
in the school. And then if there are any practitioners
51:16
or people who would just like to get involved
51:20
and help out. somehow with the land or the property,
51:24
just reach out to us and say, hey, we're interested.
51:27
There's lots of ways to be involved. Bilingual
51:30
teachers. Wildlife scientists, wildlife biologists.
51:34
Is there anything else y 'all would like to share?
51:37
We're just really excited to be able to share
51:39
this with the community. It is, of course, very
51:42
word of mouth to get it out there for our new
51:45
programs, especially for the Nature Wise for 6
51:48
to 12 year olds. So if you know any kids of that
51:51
age, please share with them. Share as much as
51:55
you can. We do believe that if all kids were
51:59
able to get this kind of an education, we would
52:01
have a very different world. So it gives us hope
52:04
for the future. Yeah. I'm really excited that
52:08
we can offer that program as well. That's like
52:10
my big celebration right now. I love our preschool
52:13
too and the community events and everything.
52:15
I love that, but particularly offering such an
52:19
amazing program for children who are generally
52:22
referred to as school age and being able to just
52:26
get them outside. Just get them outside. I want
52:32
people to know that We have that program available
52:35
throughout the school year for school -aged children,
52:39
ages 7 through 12. Please come talk to us. Please
52:42
call us. Please look us up. Please book a tour.
52:45
Know that our goal is to just get as many kids
52:50
outside and thriving as we can. And give them
52:56
an experience where they don't have to mask socially.
53:00
Given an experience where they don't have to
53:03
sit still. You know, they can find their own
53:07
times of enjoying stillness. We all do. But that
53:11
that's not based on demands. Yeah, I love all
53:14
the studies that show how important it is for
53:16
children's brain development to be moving. And
53:19
especially at this age and school age, the primary
53:24
learning is not usually. incorporated with movement
53:29
when it needs to be. It shows, you know, in many
53:33
studies that children need to be spinning or
53:35
turning upside down or having a lot more brain
53:38
breaks, body breaks in order to actually be able
53:40
to learn. So I just really love all those studies
53:44
that show that. Also, the studies that show that
53:47
kids need to be outside three to six hours a
53:49
day. Like, how many kids are actually getting
53:52
that? Well, unless they're on devices, if they
53:55
know that they can. I think most of them will.
53:59
If they've ever been introduced to the joy of
54:02
being outside, being barefoot in the grass or
54:06
the dirt or growing something or playing in a
54:09
creek or climbing a tree or hiding in the forest
54:12
under the ferns, playing some kind of fun tag
54:14
game. Some children haven't had those experiences,
54:18
but ones that have will naturally crave that
54:20
and want that and want to do that more. "I want
54:23
to go outside. I want to go outside. I want to
54:24
go outside." That's what kids say. you know, once
54:26
they know that life. And we just want to make
54:29
sure that the kids around here can come play
54:32
in the forest. We got it. We got it for you.
54:36
Come play in it. And yeah, we are always very
54:41
excited about any other foundations, businesses,
54:45
individuals, grants. who can help us to continue
54:49
fundraising to save Fern Gully Forest and also
54:53
augment our capacity for scholarships. And so
54:58
we can keep paying our teachers, and pay them
55:00
better too. So that's our need for the fundraising.
55:05
So yeah, we're here. Come visit. Come take a
55:09
tour. Come check it out. Meet us and see if we
55:12
can offer that service. awesome thank you both
55:15
so very much for being here thank you for having
55:19
us yeah thank you it's a pleasure to share If
55:29
you would like to check out or contact the Community
55:32
Nature Foundation and Fern Gully Forest School,
55:35
you can email them at ferngullyschool @gmail
55:39
.com or call 360 -305 -0021 or find them online
55:48
at either communitynature .org or ferngullyschool
55:53
.com. That's it for today's resource report produced
55:57
by Pathways to Agency. At Pathways to Agency,
56:01
we are driven by the belief that everyone should
56:03
have the tools and support to achieve their goals
56:06
and thrive in their communities. Our mission
56:09
is to bridge the gaps in understanding, accessibility,
56:13
and trust by connecting individuals to resources
56:16
and sharing information and processes that can
56:20
lead to personal and community growth. Resource
56:24
Report offers information about existing and
56:27
emerging nonprofits and resource organizations.
56:30
Find out more at pathwaystoagency .org. From
56:35
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56:38
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56:42
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56:45
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56:51
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56:55
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