News
Kids Who Get Out of Class Do Better in Class
Kids Who Get Out of Class Do Better in Class By Viji Sundaram In the New York City elementary school where Sara Shenkan-Rich used to work a few years ago, students squabbled over petty things, bullied each other, were restless in class and showed high levels of stress. But at the Sherman Elementary School in San Francisco’s Marina District where she is the principal, kids go... Read more
What do you remember about outdoor play?

The Schoolyard Habitat Movement Do young children need experiences in natural environments? From an evolutionary standpoint the answer is probably yes. Our development as a species occurred in natural environments--a wide variety, to be sure--and now, our mostly indoor existence in primarily urban environments is clearly a radical departure from the previous norm. The departure is so recent that most adults in our country still remember... Read more
What can a green education do for your child?

The Five Reasons Parents Should be Demanding a Greener Education for Their Children Environmental education in its many forms — nature lessons, energy awareness, water conservation, recycling, field trips and community service projects — has been popular over many years in the U.S. But, in 90% of U.S. schools, it has failed to become more than an occasional add-on to a core curriculum. Surveys have found... Read more
Community garden enriches lives through outdoor experiences
Community Garden Enriches Lives Through Outdoor Experiences by Leslie Renken This article appeared in the September 24, 2011 edition of the Peoria Journal StarNeither Kim Keenan nor Denise Urycki likes to garden, but last year the pair started a community garden beside Peoria's Logan Recreation Center because they are passionate about helping kids connect with nature. "Studies show that when kids are outside, depression and anxiety levels... Read more
Andrew Weil's Spontaneous Happiness: Our Nature-Deficit Disorder
You aren’t depressed; our brains just aren’t equipped for 21st-century life. In my experience, the more people have, the less likely they are to be contented. Indeed, there is abundant evidence that depression is a “disease of affluence,” a disorder of modern life in the industrialized world. People who live in poorer countries have a lower risk of depression than those in industrialized nations. In... Read more
Can a playground be too safe?
Can Playgrounds Be Too Safe? When seesaws and tall slides and other perils were disappearing from New York’s playgrounds, Henry Stern drew a line in the sandbox. As the city’s parks commissioner in the 1990s, he issued an edict concerning the 10-foot-high jungle gym near his childhood home in northern Manhattan. I grew up on the monkey bars in Fort Tryon Park, and I never forgot how... Read more
As an individual we believe we are all granted talents and abilities, unique to each, when we are born. Discovering or becoming aware of these talents and abilities is our life's purpose and developing these gifts occurs throughout our life's journey. This is a gift we are given.
Through our local chapter of the No Child Left Inside national initiative, we offer outdoor related events to encourage the physical, emotional and spiritual benefits of being in Nature. This summer, we hope you join us for 

