NAO is excited to spotlight nonprofit members, share their success stories and exciting news, and raise awareness of their mission and the impact these amazing nonprofits make in our communities.
This month, we are focusing on Friends of Outdoor School located in Portland who has been a member of NAO since 2011!
Friends of Outdoor School’s purpose is to connect, support, and advocate for all of Oregon’s diverse students to learn at inclusive and accessible Outdoor School programs that contribute to educational development, inspire youth, promote personal growth, and embrace justice. Their role is to connect people in Oregon who care about Outdoor School, facilitate the Oregon Outdoor School Network, and lead the advocacy efforts for Oregon Outdoor School. Their networks work together to:
- Promote equitable access to Outdoor School
- Champion Outdoor School to decision-makers throughout the state
- Examine the impact of Outdoor School on students
- Tackle problems and capture opportunities as they arise
- Advocate for state funding for Oregon students to attend Outdoor School
- Raise awareness of Outdoor School throughout Oregon
Learn more about Friends of Outdoor School and see their impact in real time in this video.
“Since 1957, Oregon students in fifth or sixth grade have left their classrooms and moved into the outdoors to learn, immersed in nature’s living laboratory at Outdoor School. While there, caring and skilled educators guide students to explore the natural sciences specific to the local ecology, examine the historical and present use of the land, and discover how they can make healthy and informed choices for themselves and future generations. At its best, Outdoor School transforms classroom education by creating a model of inclusion and student engagement.
Over the generations, most Oregon students had access to this seminal program. Unfortunately, as K-12 education funding became scarcer in the 2000s, only the wealthier school districts were able to offer Outdoor School.
In 2016 Oregon voters approved Measure 99, the Outdoor School bill to set aside funding to send every 5th or 6th grade student to a week of Outdoor School. We are celebrating our 8th year of state Outdoor School funding! Since 2017, our active and committed community of advocates and partners have secured over $100 million in State dollars to send over 265,000 Oregon students to Outdoor School!
This commitment to Oregon’s students has inspired advocacy efforts for Outdoor School in many other states. Yet, Oregon remains the only state committed to Outdoor School for ALL. Great work, Oregon!”
When asked how to best support Friends of Outdoor School, Kim said financial support through a donation and sharing your Outdoor School story are their top priorities.
“Despite the importance of building and maintaining a strong network for Outdoor School, securing funding for this type of work is very difficult and rarely eligible for grant funding. Donations from the community allow us to work together to secure millions of dollars of public funds to send students to Outdoor School and to ensure continued program improvement.
We also need to hear people’s Outdoor School stories. It is through hearing stories from the community and from students, families, and educators that decision-makers learn about the benefits of Outdoor School. People’s voices matter!”
Thank you to Kim Silva for her time and all the work Friends of Outdoor School does to support Oregon in maintaining its strong commitment to outdoor education and modeling inclusion and student engagement in our natural world.
If you would like to support this work, monetary donations can be made here.