If we could hire Richard Louv, the author of Last Child in the Woods – Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, to explain what school gardening and the Vegetable Project and our work to create an outdoor classroom at Myers Middle School are about, he might come up with something like his essay There Might be Something Down There, posted at the Children & Nature Network website on Tuesday.
Pushing back against advocates for longer school days and longer school years, he says, “That approach just doesn’t seem to be working” and argues instead for encouraging kids to spend more time outside experiencing and exploring nature. “Nature connection doesn’t have the same impact on every young person. It’s not a panacea for education. It’s a doorway. That’s what a growing body of scientific evidence suggests.”
We could not agree more. Hope you will give it a read.
And here is a really nice piece on CNN about a kindred spirit of an individual and organization in Harlem.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/10/health/cnn-hero-tony-hillery-harlem-grown/index.html
Together, we can make a difference.
–Bill Stoneman
