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