June 4, 2026 • 20 mins
What does it take to inspire the next generation of environmental leaders? In this episode, Steve Zakuani and Brad Evans sit down with Megan Karch, CEO of IslandWood, an innovative environmental education organization helping young people build meaningful connections with the natural world. Megan shares her journey from leading Seattle-based nonprofit FareStart to guiding IslandWood’s mission of creating transformative learning experiences for students, educators, and communities. Zak and Brad talk about the importance of access to nature, environmental stewardship, and how hands-on learning can shape not only future careers, but a lifelong commitment to caring for our planet.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
All right, Well, it's great to have you one just
for everyone listening. Why don't we begin at the very
top of this with you introducing yourself. Just give us
your name and then maybe how long you've been doing
the work you've been doing with island Wood.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Sure, my name is Megan Courch, and I'm the CEO
of Islandwood, where I have been here for eight years,
and before that worked for an organization called fair Start
for eighteen in Seattle, and before that started as an
environmental educator in my early twenties.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
I think the coolest part about these interviews is we
get to learn that there's so much more going on
outside of our scope that we don't even recognize. So
just doing a deep dive into the website and what
you guys provide give us an overview of the mission
and kind of what you guys do on a broad scale.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Sure well, island Wood is founded really for the purpose
of inspiring the next generation of environmental stewards, and really
it was around making sure that what we noticed over
twenty five years ago was that kids, especially kids in
underresourced families living in cities, were having less and less
(01:20):
time in nature. And the goal was to make sure
that these kids were provided those opportunities.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
You know, you do everything from like overnight programs to
you know, urban environmental learning. Maybe give us an idea
of how this kind of old connects all the different programs,
how it all connects into one ecosystem, and how do
you sort of design those experiences on programs you're doing
intellect real world action, how does it show up like
in a practical sense.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Yeah, sure, Well so if we want to inspire the
next generation of environmental stewards, we think of it in
four ways. First, how are we providing intentional immersive experiences
for kids in nature? That's the first way, and we
have a number of programs that I'll talk about in
order to do that, but it's really providing hands on
experience where kids really can see, touch, and feel what
(02:11):
they're experiencing. And that's number one the strategy. And then
the second strategy to do this is really our educators,
because educators have an exponential impact, and we know that
they spend the most time with kids other than their parents.
And so if we can train our educators to use
nature as a learning tool and to use the outdoors,
we think that's critical in the learning for our kids.
(02:33):
And the third is advocacy. We work on advocacy to
create systemic change across the state and the nation. And
then four Earth is providing tools and training to the
field because we believe all boats rise. And so those
are the four major areas that we work in and
they all work together. In particular the experiences we are
(02:55):
providing our kids. What we think about is, yes, want
all kids to have experiences that are as as long
as as long as possible. So we're providing programs for
four days here on our campus. But we also realize
that all kids can't get to our campus, and so
(03:15):
it's important for us to go to where they live,
where they go to school, and where they play, and
so our day programs are really designed around that, closer
to where the kids are, making sure that for those
kids who can't come to our campus that we're also
going to them.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
And I think, you know, with the Ray Foundation, we
build soccer fields in underserved communities, and I think there's
a very easy answer of why that's so important. You
guys do a ton of work in underserved communities as well.
Why is that a priority for you guys? You know,
for us it's soccer that speaks the world's language. It
speaks everyone. Everyone speaks the same language when they step
(03:57):
onto one of our mini pitches. Right, But being the
outdoors it might feel different to different students. Not a
lot of kids, like you said, have spent time outdoors
and sports. Is our vehicle being outside as yours? How
do you guys make that possible? Serving the underserved communities?
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Yeah, well, so while we prioritize all kids, our real
focus is on kids from under resourced communities in particular,
because they're not getting that experience.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
If we don't.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
What we know is when we researched before we were founded,
when we were founded, when we researched who was able
to go to outdoor school. Unfortunately, what we were finding
was that kids who were going to outdoor school were
from higher resourced areas and neighborhoods because their ptas could
pay for it, their parents could pay for it, their
schools could pay for it, the school foundations could pay
for it. But in the under resource communities that was
(04:49):
not the case, and so those kids were not coming
to outdoor schools. And so that's why we've prioritized those
areas first. And because otherwise they're not getting that opportunity
at all.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Yeah. You know, none of us are like an island,
you know what, all tied or connected to multiple people,
which makes up the communities we come from. So I'm curious,
as you're impacting like thousands of kids each year, what
impacts are you seeing in the communities that they come from.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Right?
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Maybe we can call it ripple effects that you're seeing
in the communities.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Yeah, well, you see everything from kids going back home
and teaching their parents what they learn, to then their
communities learning from them. And so we definitely consider it
the ripple effect. And you see it. You know, we
just saw a group of kids who went back to
their school and they started an entire program around idling
(05:39):
and pollution and how can they decrease the idling in
the driving parking lot?
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Right?
Speaker 2 (05:45):
And what happens is where you see the exponential impact
is kids actually see that they have agency, and they
see that they can make a difference, and they take
that agency back to their communities and then they grow
up with it. I mean, we see kids coming back
who are now and biologists. We see kids coming back
that are now educators. We see our graduates coming back
(06:06):
that are educators in the school system that are working
to actually on what I would call systemic change within
how our kids are learning. And if we can change
how our kids are learning, that to me is an
exponential community impact.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
Can you real quick, just take us through a day?
And then I got a follow up question, take us
through a day at Island Wood and what that looks
like for the students and if the do the teachers
come to do parent volunteers come as well? Just a
brief overview of a day at island would yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Well, so we run both overnight programs and day programs.
And for the overnight programs, what happens is on a Monday,
they will take off on a bus, typically get on
a ferry, come on over to the island and are
greeted by our graduate students when they arrive. And when
they arrive come they go to our gear library first
(07:03):
and they check out gear that they'll need for the week.
Because our belief is there's no such thing as bad weather,
just bad gear. And we also believe that most of
the kids, we don't want them to not come because
they don't have the proper raincoat or the proper boots
or the proper pants.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
So they'll start there and they'll check out.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
What they need for the week, and then they'll meet
their grad student and their instructor and they'll plan out
their week, and the kids are a part of that planning.
The kids are a part of what their experiences are
going to be like. And then they'll head out on
the trails and they might head down to the harbor
(07:42):
and check out the crabs at the harbor, or they
might head to the canopy tower and check out all
the levels of the forestry canopy and start start thinking
about that. Or they might head out to Max Pond
and go out on one of our rafts and start
taking samples of the water. Or they might head over
to the bog and check out the eggs of the frogs.
Speaker 4 (08:05):
That have been laid. It depends on the season, so.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
The time always their experience is always different according to
the season. But they'll spend a day out in the
field and they'll have lunch out on the field, and
then they'll come on back to a great, warm, cozy
lodge and have a fabulous dinner that evening that's all homemade,
and end the day with a campfire at Friendship Circle
(08:32):
and then the next day they'll wake up and do
it all over again, and then they head back home
on Thursday afternoons.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
I'm just thinking right now, this would be my dream
if they had something like that for adults. My partner
here might need to start at the base level and
just Steve needs to come over there and experience that
for a couple of days. It's all just the right here, Steve,
come on, it's.
Speaker 4 (08:56):
All right here, you know.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
And I will say, you know, I was just talking
to a who said before they came, they said, you know,
I thought nature was going to be boring. I thought
it was going to be dirty, and I thought it
was just about leaves.
Speaker 4 (09:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
And then they went home, and before they left they said,
oh my gosh, this was so exciting. This was so great.
I love being outdoors. I love nature. And they really
went home, in my mind, with a whole new view
and appreciation of the natural world and ultimately a little
bit more about themselves. And they also went home, I think,
(09:34):
with a new perspective on how to care for their planet.
But the biggest thing that I heard from one of
the students was they said, you know, when I'm in
the classroom, or when I'm back at school. What I
heard was, you know, I don't talk a lot, I
don't raise my hand, I don't I don't feel confident enough.
Speaker 4 (09:55):
But here I was just out on the team's course.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
And I was a leader, and I felt comfortable and
I felt that I belonged. And then the teacher later
on swered, you know, they went back to the classroom
and they have more confidence, and they did speak up,
and they have more agency. And I think if we frankly,
that's the biggest thing we're giving kids is a sense
(10:20):
of who they are in the world and a sense
of what the world is, and if they can go
back with that, I think that makes a huge difference
in their life moving forward.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
Yeah, I mean, and I suspect that the last part
of the answer just gave may even answer this following
question I want to ask you, because you know, there's
many ways to measure success, Right, you can look at
the raw participation numbers and then maybe some of what
you just said as well, what the world we come from. Yeah,
you have the result on the weekend and maybe a
some performance of numbers and metrics, but it's many ways
to measure success for any individual. So I'm curious for
(10:54):
Islandwood beyond just participation numbers, which of course are important.
How do you measure success us for what you're doing.
Speaker 4 (11:01):
Yeah, we measure it any We measure it in a
number of ways.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
We really want to see increases in their overall learning
and their learning practices. We see increases in social emotional
We hear over and over from teachers that kids come
back more collaborative, more cooperative, greater sense of who they are,
stronger sense of belonging. We're really looking at those pieces
and we're looking, for sure for them to have a
(11:25):
greater understanding of the natural world. Because you don't care
for something you don't know, and what we want you
don't you don't. And we want them to care for
our natural world. We want them to care about the planet,
and so all of those pieces and you know, we
see lessing. We also see and track things like why
(11:47):
it's really the lack of the sorry, let me start
that over. What we see happening to kids right now
is they're spending more time on their screens, more time indoors.
And what happens with that is that you see anxiety
increasing and learning decreasing. Our goal at Islandwood is turning
(12:10):
screen time into curiosity. You know, it's to really switch
that up for them and to really give them back
and really decrease their anxiety less. The more they're outdoors,
the less anxious they are. And we hear that from
kids in different words. You know, we'll hear words like
(12:30):
for the first time, I felt calm. You know, I
just heard a kid talk about how they were all
freaked out because they couldn't bring their phone, they couldn't
bring a screen, they couldn't bring any technology. But I
also heard that same kid say, hey, I feel this
sense of calm, I feel this sense of you know,
(12:53):
they weren't using the word, you know, less anxiety, but
they were definitely describing what that feels like.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
So is that a rule, no, no technology, You got
to kind of throw it in a bag before you
get there, whether it's a day trip or four nights.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
Yeah, that's yeah, that's great.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
I mean, I think one of the largest, you know,
one of the great benefits of the program that I
think is highly needed for kids right now is what
I would call authentic connection. So there's more and more
screen time, there's more and more social media there's more
and more. All of that is increasing the anxiety and
our kids and what we're trying to give them back
(13:33):
is a bit of their childhood and to give them
back authentic connection with nature, authentic connection with each other,
and connection with themselves that you can't you know that
I that we.
Speaker 4 (13:47):
Think you know.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Unfortunately, technology has many benefits, but that is one thing
it is taking away from our kids.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Yeah, and I'd have to imagine connection with people older
than them too, Right, they see their teachers on a
daily basis, maybe friends and families, stuff's going on at home,
but they get to come to a place where a
smile is on the on the educator's face and they
actually get to connect. Having those conversations about the outdoors
and someone that they can trust and feel comfortable with
is probably a big piece of that too now for sure.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
And they're challenging themselves to do things they never thought
they could do. You know, you have kids who are
afraid of heights that are you know, climbing up really
high canopy towers. And with these views, you've got kids
that are really scared of heights that are going across
our suspension bridge which goes over a high ravine. You've
got kids going out on the challenge course, which in
and off of itself speaks for itself, and they're challenging themselves.
(14:39):
And the more and more our kids challenge themselves and
see that they can do it and see that not
only they can do it, but they like it, the
more confidence they have in themselves and the more agency
they feel.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
So yeah, yeah, your favorite thing about working there? I mean,
what keeps you going every day? Is it joyful all
the time? Or are you you know, some days our
paperwork days? And then do you get to get out
on the campus and do an experience as well?
Speaker 2 (15:09):
I can if I intentionally tell myself to go and
do it. Of course, you there's tons of paperwork with
my job and tons of dust time. That said, my favorite,
my favorite thing is the fact that literally if I
just look to my right and look out the window,
there is invariably always a kid walking by, especially when
they first arrive. I always hear all the laughter when
they're coming down the trails and I see them walk
(15:32):
right by my window. And for myself personally, when I
come up to the campus and I'm walking up to
the campus, you know, we have we it's Our campus
is intentionally built where you don't drive up to the
campus and walk through the door. You drive up to
the campus and you go through trails through the woods
(15:53):
before you ever see a building. And it's very intentionally built.
And I personally feel that when I walk through I
have it. It gives me a sense of calm, and
it gives me a sense of purpose. But it just
is incredibly inspiring. But and if that does it, if
(16:13):
it does it for me, I know it's.
Speaker 4 (16:15):
Doing it for kids when they first arrive.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
You know, they've got that whole kind of you know,
and it's just just to give them that sense of awe,
that sense of discovery.
Speaker 4 (16:25):
And it really we did build it that way.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
It was very intentional to not have buildings right when
you first arrive. Yeah, and that you got to experience
what it feels like to be immersed in nature right
at the beginning before you get to your lodge.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Yeah. Really cool. I mean a lot of different people
maybe for the first time being exposed to your work
or be listening to this. Obviously, the Sounders as a
club and fan base very support for the community. I
wonder what maybe some practical ways that we couldn't support
Island would anything you're doing. I mean, if anyone's listening
to this and hey, this sounds really cool, are there
any tangible ways we can get both the sideline and
(17:03):
get involved in a game and support you.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
Yeah, well, some great practical ways or you know, we
have all sorts of community activities that people can engage
in from we have open days where you can come
hike the trails and to we do education programs where
all families can come and participate. And we do that because, yes,
while we serve kids, we really want to serve the
(17:26):
entire community, and we want everybody in our community out
there champion being champions not only for Islandwood, but for
nature and for.
Speaker 4 (17:36):
The purpose of outdoor school. Outdoor school is not just
a field trip. It is not a field trip.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
In my mind, it is critical for kids. It is
a critical component of their learning and their experience. You know,
the time that our kids are kids is really short,
and so you know, how you can help is to
get that word out and to make sure that we're
prioritizing time for our kids to get outside, to to
(18:08):
really explore and to because that time gives them creativity.
It gives them all the things that they're not they're
not getting Our childhood is changing for kids, and we
want to make sure they get it. So what you asked,
in my long winded way to answer it, was you know,
(18:28):
how how can you help? I think it's in championing
the work. Really just telling people about our work. I
think it's attending community events, and of course it's always
contributing in some way, whether it's your time, talent, or
your treasure.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
Amazing, Yeah, no, wonderful, I mean yeah, great, to be
very fascinating to hear about this really can tell your
passionate commitment to what you're doing. So I hope everyone
that's listening to this that would like to find a
way to get involved in so many different ways that
we can do. So, if there's anything will we've covered
quite a bit that you would like to mention or
would like to make us aware of, please feel free
(19:04):
will give you that space right now before we wrap
this up, just in case.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
We have a number of programs that people aren't aware of.
We also we have a graduate program people come and
get their Masters in education from US, and it's in
partnership with the University of Washington, and so for.
Speaker 4 (19:22):
Folks wanting to.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Really look at being an educator and having the skill
set that is really centered around environmental sustainability and environment
and the natural world, I think it's a great master's program.
Speaker 4 (19:41):
So that's one.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
The other is, and you mentioned it briefly, but it
is our work with educators and our belief is that
every kid in their learning, that it should not just
be traditional in the classroom otedesk, that we really should
be creating experiential learning for our kids that's place based,
that is centered to them and center to where they
(20:04):
live and their world.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Well yeah, Megan, thank you so much for joining me.
Very cool.
Speaker 4 (20:10):
Well thanks for thanks for doing this.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
I'm sure you're interviewing a lot of different organizations. I
really appreciate you being champions
All right, Well, it's great to have you one just
for everyone listening. Why don't we begin at the very
top of this with you introducing yourself. Just give us
your name and then maybe how long you've been doing
the work you've been doing with island Wood.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Sure, my name is Megan Courch, and I'm the CEO
of Islandwood, where I have been here for eight years,
and before that worked for an organization called fair Start
for eighteen in Seattle, and before that started as an
environmental educator in my early twenties.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
I think the coolest part about these interviews is we
get to learn that there's so much more going on
outside of our scope that we don't even recognize. So
just doing a deep dive into the website and what
you guys provide give us an overview of the mission
and kind of what you guys do on a broad scale.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Sure well, island Wood is founded really for the purpose
of inspiring the next generation of environmental stewards, and really
it was around making sure that what we noticed over
twenty five years ago was that kids, especially kids in
underresourced families living in cities, were having less and less
(01:20):
time in nature. And the goal was to make sure
that these kids were provided those opportunities.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
You know, you do everything from like overnight programs to
you know, urban environmental learning. Maybe give us an idea
of how this kind of old connects all the different programs,
how it all connects into one ecosystem, and how do
you sort of design those experiences on programs you're doing
intellect real world action, how does it show up like
in a practical sense.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Yeah, sure, Well so if we want to inspire the
next generation of environmental stewards, we think of it in
four ways. First, how are we providing intentional immersive experiences
for kids in nature? That's the first way, and we
have a number of programs that I'll talk about in
order to do that, but it's really providing hands on
experience where kids really can see, touch, and feel what
(02:11):
they're experiencing. And that's number one the strategy. And then
the second strategy to do this is really our educators,
because educators have an exponential impact, and we know that
they spend the most time with kids other than their parents.
And so if we can train our educators to use
nature as a learning tool and to use the outdoors,
we think that's critical in the learning for our kids.
(02:33):
And the third is advocacy. We work on advocacy to
create systemic change across the state and the nation. And
then four Earth is providing tools and training to the
field because we believe all boats rise. And so those
are the four major areas that we work in and
they all work together. In particular the experiences we are
(02:55):
providing our kids. What we think about is, yes, want
all kids to have experiences that are as as long
as as long as possible. So we're providing programs for
four days here on our campus. But we also realize
that all kids can't get to our campus, and so
(03:15):
it's important for us to go to where they live,
where they go to school, and where they play, and
so our day programs are really designed around that, closer
to where the kids are, making sure that for those
kids who can't come to our campus that we're also
going to them.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
And I think, you know, with the Ray Foundation, we
build soccer fields in underserved communities, and I think there's
a very easy answer of why that's so important. You
guys do a ton of work in underserved communities as well.
Why is that a priority for you guys? You know,
for us it's soccer that speaks the world's language. It
speaks everyone. Everyone speaks the same language when they step
(03:57):
onto one of our mini pitches. Right, But being the
outdoors it might feel different to different students. Not a
lot of kids, like you said, have spent time outdoors
and sports. Is our vehicle being outside as yours? How
do you guys make that possible? Serving the underserved communities?
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Yeah, well, so while we prioritize all kids, our real
focus is on kids from under resourced communities in particular,
because they're not getting that experience.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
If we don't.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
What we know is when we researched before we were founded,
when we were founded, when we researched who was able
to go to outdoor school. Unfortunately, what we were finding
was that kids who were going to outdoor school were
from higher resourced areas and neighborhoods because their ptas could
pay for it, their parents could pay for it, their
schools could pay for it, the school foundations could pay
for it. But in the under resource communities that was
(04:49):
not the case, and so those kids were not coming
to outdoor schools. And so that's why we've prioritized those
areas first. And because otherwise they're not getting that opportunity
at all.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Yeah. You know, none of us are like an island,
you know what, all tied or connected to multiple people,
which makes up the communities we come from. So I'm curious,
as you're impacting like thousands of kids each year, what
impacts are you seeing in the communities that they come from.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Right?
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Maybe we can call it ripple effects that you're seeing
in the communities.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Yeah, well, you see everything from kids going back home
and teaching their parents what they learn, to then their
communities learning from them. And so we definitely consider it
the ripple effect. And you see it. You know, we
just saw a group of kids who went back to
their school and they started an entire program around idling
(05:39):
and pollution and how can they decrease the idling in
the driving parking lot?
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Right?
Speaker 2 (05:45):
And what happens is where you see the exponential impact
is kids actually see that they have agency, and they
see that they can make a difference, and they take
that agency back to their communities and then they grow
up with it. I mean, we see kids coming back
who are now and biologists. We see kids coming back
that are now educators. We see our graduates coming back
(06:06):
that are educators in the school system that are working
to actually on what I would call systemic change within
how our kids are learning. And if we can change
how our kids are learning, that to me is an
exponential community impact.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
Can you real quick, just take us through a day?
And then I got a follow up question, take us
through a day at Island Wood and what that looks
like for the students and if the do the teachers
come to do parent volunteers come as well? Just a
brief overview of a day at island would yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Well, so we run both overnight programs and day programs.
And for the overnight programs, what happens is on a Monday,
they will take off on a bus, typically get on
a ferry, come on over to the island and are
greeted by our graduate students when they arrive. And when
they arrive come they go to our gear library first
(07:03):
and they check out gear that they'll need for the week.
Because our belief is there's no such thing as bad weather,
just bad gear. And we also believe that most of
the kids, we don't want them to not come because
they don't have the proper raincoat or the proper boots
or the proper pants.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
So they'll start there and they'll check out.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
What they need for the week, and then they'll meet
their grad student and their instructor and they'll plan out
their week, and the kids are a part of that planning.
The kids are a part of what their experiences are
going to be like. And then they'll head out on
the trails and they might head down to the harbor
(07:42):
and check out the crabs at the harbor, or they
might head to the canopy tower and check out all
the levels of the forestry canopy and start start thinking
about that. Or they might head out to Max Pond
and go out on one of our rafts and start
taking samples of the water. Or they might head over
to the bog and check out the eggs of the frogs.
Speaker 4 (08:05):
That have been laid. It depends on the season, so.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
The time always their experience is always different according to
the season. But they'll spend a day out in the
field and they'll have lunch out on the field, and
then they'll come on back to a great, warm, cozy
lodge and have a fabulous dinner that evening that's all homemade,
and end the day with a campfire at Friendship Circle
(08:32):
and then the next day they'll wake up and do
it all over again, and then they head back home
on Thursday afternoons.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
I'm just thinking right now, this would be my dream
if they had something like that for adults. My partner
here might need to start at the base level and
just Steve needs to come over there and experience that
for a couple of days. It's all just the right here, Steve,
come on, it's.
Speaker 4 (08:56):
All right here, you know.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
And I will say, you know, I was just talking
to a who said before they came, they said, you know,
I thought nature was going to be boring. I thought
it was going to be dirty, and I thought it
was just about leaves.
Speaker 4 (09:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
And then they went home, and before they left they said,
oh my gosh, this was so exciting. This was so great.
I love being outdoors. I love nature. And they really
went home, in my mind, with a whole new view
and appreciation of the natural world and ultimately a little
bit more about themselves. And they also went home, I think,
(09:34):
with a new perspective on how to care for their planet.
But the biggest thing that I heard from one of
the students was they said, you know, when I'm in
the classroom, or when I'm back at school. What I
heard was, you know, I don't talk a lot, I
don't raise my hand, I don't I don't feel confident enough.
Speaker 4 (09:55):
But here I was just out on the team's course.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
And I was a leader, and I felt comfortable and
I felt that I belonged. And then the teacher later
on swered, you know, they went back to the classroom
and they have more confidence, and they did speak up,
and they have more agency. And I think if we frankly,
that's the biggest thing we're giving kids is a sense
(10:20):
of who they are in the world and a sense
of what the world is, and if they can go
back with that, I think that makes a huge difference
in their life moving forward.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
Yeah, I mean, and I suspect that the last part
of the answer just gave may even answer this following
question I want to ask you, because you know, there's
many ways to measure success, Right, you can look at
the raw participation numbers and then maybe some of what
you just said as well, what the world we come from. Yeah,
you have the result on the weekend and maybe a
some performance of numbers and metrics, but it's many ways
to measure success for any individual. So I'm curious for
(10:54):
Islandwood beyond just participation numbers, which of course are important.
How do you measure success us for what you're doing.
Speaker 4 (11:01):
Yeah, we measure it any We measure it in a
number of ways.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
We really want to see increases in their overall learning
and their learning practices. We see increases in social emotional
We hear over and over from teachers that kids come
back more collaborative, more cooperative, greater sense of who they are,
stronger sense of belonging. We're really looking at those pieces
and we're looking, for sure for them to have a
(11:25):
greater understanding of the natural world. Because you don't care
for something you don't know, and what we want you
don't you don't. And we want them to care for
our natural world. We want them to care about the planet,
and so all of those pieces and you know, we
see lessing. We also see and track things like why
(11:47):
it's really the lack of the sorry, let me start
that over. What we see happening to kids right now
is they're spending more time on their screens, more time indoors.
And what happens with that is that you see anxiety
increasing and learning decreasing. Our goal at Islandwood is turning
(12:10):
screen time into curiosity. You know, it's to really switch
that up for them and to really give them back
and really decrease their anxiety less. The more they're outdoors,
the less anxious they are. And we hear that from
kids in different words. You know, we'll hear words like
(12:30):
for the first time, I felt calm. You know, I
just heard a kid talk about how they were all
freaked out because they couldn't bring their phone, they couldn't
bring a screen, they couldn't bring any technology. But I
also heard that same kid say, hey, I feel this
sense of calm, I feel this sense of you know,
(12:53):
they weren't using the word, you know, less anxiety, but
they were definitely describing what that feels like.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
So is that a rule, no, no technology, You got
to kind of throw it in a bag before you
get there, whether it's a day trip or four nights.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
Yeah, that's yeah, that's great.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
I mean, I think one of the largest, you know,
one of the great benefits of the program that I
think is highly needed for kids right now is what
I would call authentic connection. So there's more and more
screen time, there's more and more social media there's more
and more. All of that is increasing the anxiety and
our kids and what we're trying to give them back
(13:33):
is a bit of their childhood and to give them
back authentic connection with nature, authentic connection with each other,
and connection with themselves that you can't you know that
I that we.
Speaker 4 (13:47):
Think you know.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Unfortunately, technology has many benefits, but that is one thing
it is taking away from our kids.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Yeah, and I'd have to imagine connection with people older
than them too, Right, they see their teachers on a
daily basis, maybe friends and families, stuff's going on at home,
but they get to come to a place where a
smile is on the on the educator's face and they
actually get to connect. Having those conversations about the outdoors
and someone that they can trust and feel comfortable with
is probably a big piece of that too now for sure.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
And they're challenging themselves to do things they never thought
they could do. You know, you have kids who are
afraid of heights that are you know, climbing up really
high canopy towers. And with these views, you've got kids
that are really scared of heights that are going across
our suspension bridge which goes over a high ravine. You've
got kids going out on the challenge course, which in
and off of itself speaks for itself, and they're challenging themselves.
(14:39):
And the more and more our kids challenge themselves and
see that they can do it and see that not
only they can do it, but they like it, the
more confidence they have in themselves and the more agency
they feel.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
So yeah, yeah, your favorite thing about working there? I mean,
what keeps you going every day? Is it joyful all
the time? Or are you you know, some days our
paperwork days? And then do you get to get out
on the campus and do an experience as well?
Speaker 2 (15:09):
I can if I intentionally tell myself to go and
do it. Of course, you there's tons of paperwork with
my job and tons of dust time. That said, my favorite,
my favorite thing is the fact that literally if I
just look to my right and look out the window,
there is invariably always a kid walking by, especially when
they first arrive. I always hear all the laughter when
they're coming down the trails and I see them walk
(15:32):
right by my window. And for myself personally, when I
come up to the campus and I'm walking up to
the campus, you know, we have we it's Our campus
is intentionally built where you don't drive up to the
campus and walk through the door. You drive up to
the campus and you go through trails through the woods
(15:53):
before you ever see a building. And it's very intentionally built.
And I personally feel that when I walk through I
have it. It gives me a sense of calm, and
it gives me a sense of purpose. But it just
is incredibly inspiring. But and if that does it, if
(16:13):
it does it for me, I know it's.
Speaker 4 (16:15):
Doing it for kids when they first arrive.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
You know, they've got that whole kind of you know,
and it's just just to give them that sense of awe,
that sense of discovery.
Speaker 4 (16:25):
And it really we did build it that way.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
It was very intentional to not have buildings right when
you first arrive. Yeah, and that you got to experience
what it feels like to be immersed in nature right
at the beginning before you get to your lodge.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Yeah. Really cool. I mean a lot of different people
maybe for the first time being exposed to your work
or be listening to this. Obviously, the Sounders as a
club and fan base very support for the community. I
wonder what maybe some practical ways that we couldn't support
Island would anything you're doing. I mean, if anyone's listening
to this and hey, this sounds really cool, are there
any tangible ways we can get both the sideline and
(17:03):
get involved in a game and support you.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
Yeah, well, some great practical ways or you know, we
have all sorts of community activities that people can engage
in from we have open days where you can come
hike the trails and to we do education programs where
all families can come and participate. And we do that because, yes,
while we serve kids, we really want to serve the
(17:26):
entire community, and we want everybody in our community out
there champion being champions not only for Islandwood, but for
nature and for.
Speaker 4 (17:36):
The purpose of outdoor school. Outdoor school is not just
a field trip. It is not a field trip.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
In my mind, it is critical for kids. It is
a critical component of their learning and their experience. You know,
the time that our kids are kids is really short,
and so you know, how you can help is to
get that word out and to make sure that we're
prioritizing time for our kids to get outside, to to
(18:08):
really explore and to because that time gives them creativity.
It gives them all the things that they're not they're
not getting Our childhood is changing for kids, and we
want to make sure they get it. So what you asked,
in my long winded way to answer it, was you know,
(18:28):
how how can you help? I think it's in championing
the work. Really just telling people about our work. I
think it's attending community events, and of course it's always
contributing in some way, whether it's your time, talent, or
your treasure.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
Amazing, Yeah, no, wonderful, I mean yeah, great, to be
very fascinating to hear about this really can tell your
passionate commitment to what you're doing. So I hope everyone
that's listening to this that would like to find a
way to get involved in so many different ways that
we can do. So, if there's anything will we've covered
quite a bit that you would like to mention or
would like to make us aware of, please feel free
(19:04):
will give you that space right now before we wrap
this up, just in case.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
We have a number of programs that people aren't aware of.
We also we have a graduate program people come and
get their Masters in education from US, and it's in
partnership with the University of Washington, and so for.
Speaker 4 (19:22):
Folks wanting to.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Really look at being an educator and having the skill
set that is really centered around environmental sustainability and environment
and the natural world, I think it's a great master's program.
Speaker 4 (19:41):
So that's one.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
The other is, and you mentioned it briefly, but it
is our work with educators and our belief is that
every kid in their learning, that it should not just
be traditional in the classroom otedesk, that we really should
be creating experiential learning for our kids that's place based,
that is centered to them and center to where they
(20:04):
live and their world.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Well yeah, Megan, thank you so much for joining me.
Very cool.
Speaker 4 (20:10):
Well thanks for thanks for doing this.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
I'm sure you're interviewing a lot of different organizations. I
really appreciate you being champions
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