Some of the challenges in building out the Outdoor Learning Lab project included limited cross-curricular planning time. Because my planning time as an educator in the English department did not align with my teacher collaborator in the agricultural department, we were not able to engage with one another as much as we’d like to in regards to the project timeline & opportunity for cross-curricular student collaboration throughout the project.
The Earthseed Outdoor Learning Lab project, one of Saul’s initiatives in the EFS program, is inspired by Octavia E. Butler’s novel, Parable of the Sower specifically, the text’s concept of “Earthseed.” This spiritual belief system that centers on truth, knowledge, adaptatbiltiy, growth, nature, & community was used as the core value system to imagine the lab. Read more
Things at Saul have changed quite a bit, with the warming temperature they are now working outside! This is an exciting time for the students because it gives them an opportunity to be hands-on, which is vital to Saul. Saul has partnered up with the Eat.Right.Philly program in an effort to get fresh veggies in the hands of students and community members. Read more
Over these past two weeks, I’ve had the pleasure of working with Bailey, a senior at Saul High School. Bailey’s project is centered around climate anxiety experienced among her peers and community. Through emails and in-person conversations, Bailey described to me that she spends a lot of her time thinking about life and the future of the world. Read more
It’s week two and so far, I’ve worked with Greg and Rebecca to improve student driven projects. Greg’s class has a two-part project, with the students choosing a topic relating to environmentalism and their neighborhood. While the second part consist of a persuasive speech that is to be given to their peers. Read more
