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.
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.
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.
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 time in nature. And the goal was to make sure that these kids were provided those opportunities.
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.
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
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. 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 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 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.
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 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?
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.
If we don't.
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 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.
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.
Right?
Maybe we can call it ripple effects that you're seeing in the communities.
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 and pollution and how can they decrease the idling in the driving parking lot?
Right?
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 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.
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.
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 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.
So they'll start there and they'll check out.
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 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.
That have been laid. It depends on the season, so.
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 and then the next day they'll wake up and do it all over again, and then they head back home on Thursday afternoons.
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.
All right here, you know.
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.
Yeah.
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, 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.
But here I was just out on the team's course.
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 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.
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 Islandwood beyond just participation numbers, which of course are important. How do you measure success us for what you're doing.
Yeah, we measure it any We measure it in a number of ways.
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 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 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
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 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, they weren't using the word, you know, less anxiety, but they were definitely describing what that feels like.
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.
Yeah, that's yeah, that's great.
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 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.
Think you know.
Unfortunately, technology has many benefits, but that is one thing it is taking away from our kids.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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
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 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 it does it for me, I know it's.
Doing it for kids when they first arrive.
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.
And it really we did build it that way.
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.
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 get involved in a game and support you.
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 entire community, and we want everybody in our community out there champion being champions not only for Islandwood, but for nature and for.
The purpose of outdoor school. Outdoor school is not just a field trip. It is not a field trip.
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 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, 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.
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 will give you that space right now before we wrap this up, just in case.
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.
Folks wanting to.
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.
So that's one.
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 live and their world.
Well yeah, Megan, thank you so much for joining me. Very cool.
Well thanks for thanks for doing this.
I'm sure you're interviewing a lot of different organizations. I really appreciate you being champions