Summer Swallow facilitating the creation of a community web with IslandWood students. (photo: Summer Swallow)
Tangible Connections The Value of Community Agreements
by Alyssa Caplan and Summer Swallow
of diversity, and how, through our differences, communities become stronger. As instructors at IslandWood, an outdoor school in the Pacific Northwest located across the Puget Sound from Seattle, we provide an immersive residential outdoor educational experience for fourth through sixth grade students. We have four
T
he world is full of connections, and as educators we strive to facilitate appreciations and awareness among students by helping them to see the benefits
days to create memorable experiences for our students, and this hinges upon quickly creating a community of trust and support, especially given that many students who come to us have spent little to no time in a forest setting.
The Four Pillars of Stewardship ABSTRACT
Student-generated community agreements serve to create a positive learning community in residential outdoor environmental programs. This activity is essential and creates opportunities to reveal connections between people and ecosystems by weaving together Native Education, diversity, team building, and hands-on learning. Visualizing connections make community agreements both tangible and meaningful for students. In fostering these connections through collaboration, students are introduced to stewardship through four lenses (Embracing Adventure, Helping the Environment, Exploring Here and There, and Living and Learning in Community). Students reflect on time spent building their community and experiences of stewardship by creating a web out of yarn.
CLEARING Spring 2018
At IslandWood, our goal is to create positive and impactful experiences where children are engaged with their natural environment while also connecting with IslandWood’s four pillars of stewardship: Embracing Adventure, Helping the Environment, Exploring Here and There, and Living and Learning in Community. While at IslandWood we encourage students to “Embrace Adventure” by trying new things in the garden, climbing the forest canopy tower (a 118- foot tall retired fire lookout station which allows students to see the various layers of the forest canopy), participate in a night hike, work as a team to -complete challenges and more. Students “Help the Environment” by reducing food waste, learning about compost, becoming a lifelong member of the ‘Dirty Pocket Club’ (picking up trash) and learning the principles of “leave no trace”. We help students to “Explore Here and There” by making connections between IslandWood and their home communities such as helping them identify fauna and flora they may see at home. Our
www.clearingmagazine.org
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