It was a perfect spring day in May as my students settled onto their stools, made of overturned plastic buckets. In our outdoor classroom, I planned to use the nature surrounding us to teach them how to order adjectives. Suddenly, a cheeky gray squirrel grabbed our attention, leaping through branches and screeching. We shifted our focus, gleefully tracking the animal to describe its frenetic journey with detailed sentences. Learning in nature allows students to joyfully capture and absorb real-time events. I find that rather than groaning about worksheets, my students race to our outdoor classroom at every chance they get, eagerly anticipating their next discovery.

After teaching for 30 years, I have realized that nature-based learning offers great growth for children. It’s why I work to incorporate nature into as much of my school day at Wiscasset Elementary School as possible. We host our morning meetings in the school garden to ground our work in nature. Our class learns math in the woods, as we gather sticks to represent different types of angles.

Since becoming 2025 Maine Teacher of the Year, I have been widely sharing what I have learned about nature-based education. I have also been connecting with state and national leaders to advocate for providing all students with the opportunity to learn in and with nature.

The Maine State Legislature has already supported outdoor education to an extent by passing and funding L.D. 1817, An Act to Support Outdoor Education by Establishing the Outdoor School for All Maine Students Program, which provides students in grades 4-8 with the experience of a two-night, three-day outdoor school experience. While this represents a wonderful opportunity for students in that age range, my goal is to help all teachers become comfortable with taking their pre-K-12 students outside to engage in nature-based learning.

Often, the biggest hurdle for teachers in starting something new is tiptoeing into that first step. I encourage teachers who are interested in incorporating outdoor learning into their classrooms to start by simply looking out the window and letting a bird they see serve as a launching point for a quick lesson. They also might consider grabbing another teacher and taking a walk around their school building, searching for natural resources that are just waiting for discovery. It was on such a walk with my partner teacher that we discovered what our school now calls OWLS — short for “Outdoor Wonderful Learning Space.”

Since then, we have worked to clear that overgrown area by the Sheepscot River, and we fundraised with our students to provide bucket seating and storage. Now, our students jump at any opportunity to learn in OWLS. They have shared that they feel safe and calm in this space.

Students who often struggle to control their bodies while indoors are highly engaged and successful in learning outside. The time that they spend learning outdoors allows for increased focus when they return to the building for a new lesson. My students are also passionate about protecting their “place” at school — and have written mock legislation to prevent erosion of their space. They have researched the nature surrounding their school and shared their findings with younger students. Nature-based education is not an “extra” to squeeze into the day.

Students who have knowledge and love of their place grow into adults who have a desire to be active participants in creating successful communities.