I want to create a place where the observation of nature connects multiple subject areas, and ultimately, connects teachers, parents, and learners (of all ages) to each other.
Let's get serious. We need to be more playful. We need more sunshine on our faces, more leaves dancing in the breeze. We need to stop and smell the lilacs in the rain. We need to play more games.
The past few years have been tough. And they have been especially tough on young learners.
I learned after a brain injury four years ago that nature and art are calming and healing in ways that we often underestimate or just don't notice. The skills that I had learned as an artist were a lifeline for me in a dark time.
Being forced to stop and try to get better, I started noticing a lot.
I noticed leaf buds and how they held all the colors and smells of spring in the dead of winter. I noticed the yellows of aspen leaves against the blue sky when I went on walks.
But as an educator, I also noticed it was hard to find teaching resources that integrated art and outdoor learning into other subject areas. I saw that it was so hard to find resources that brought mindfulness in nature to math and science.
All this at a time when many of us--and especially young learners--struggle to connect to one another and find calm.
In a full-circle moment, these experiences brought me back to one of my lifelong passions.
You see, I wrote my master's thesis almost 20 years ago (don't do the math) on the intersection of art and science. When I was an art history professor, I taught linked cohort courses with poetry and math classes. When I was an editor at a magazine, I started an art education section where I focused on connections between subject areas.
I live in one of the most beautiful cities in the country (Boulder, CO) because of my passion for hiking and the outdoors.
What if I could bring it all together?
And that question is how leaf, STEM, stART began to bloom. At first, in the back of my mind, and later, as a project that captures most of my attention and all of my free time. (I still have a day job as a corporate marketing strategist.)
So, I'm here hoping to connect with you and to bring some of the things you need as a parent, learner, or educator into your life. Is that a literary game for grownups? Is it a curriculum based on nature journaling? Is it a place to learn some new art techniques or ways to pause and get inspired? Well, I'm working on it, and I'm here for you.
Stay tuned, and let me know how I can help.
