For many years, IslandWood has been active in advocacy efforts at both state and national levels. While not every child can participate in an IslandWood program, we believe every child should have access to outdoor learning experiences like ours. And also, that teachers should have the resources they need to make science learning relevant, engaging, and equitable for their students. In the Q&A below, Megan Karch, IslandWood CEO, shares her takeaways from the recent Association of Nature Center Administrators Outdoor School Summit and IslandWood’s advocacy priorities for 2025.

You recently attended the 2025 Association of Nature Center Administrators (ANCA) Outdoor School Summit in Maryland. What were your biggest takeaways from the Summit?

If I were to name the biggest takeaway, it would be the immense benefit of working together and gathering in person with our peer organizations – sharing our best practices for creating greater impact. While I have regular monthly Zoom meetings with my National Outdoor School for All Consortium peers scattered around the country, there is nothing like connecting in person to strengthen our relationships, share our wins, problem-solve our challenges, and imagine a future where Outdoor School is available for all students in the US. I am reminded of the African proverb, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” Our consortium of outdoor schools is building on each other’s strengths so we can go far. Together, we are creating meaningful experiences for our youth to connect with the natural world, which is needed now more than ever.

What are the National Outdoor School for All Consortium members focused on in 2025?

We are focused on moving forward in our vision for every student in the country to attend outdoor school. Specifically, we are focused on three things: federal and state policy, understanding and sharing the impact of our work, and sharing best practices & tools for the field. On policy, members discussed how to help states across the country in building off the momentum of Outdoor School bills passed and funded in Oregon and Washington. On the topic of impact, we discussed current progress in measuring the impact of outdoor school in Oregon and the impact measurement pilot underway in Washington. In talking about shared practices, we discussed creating more formal mechanisms for sharing best practices across the country. All of this requires capacity funding, which we’ll focus on over the next year.

Megan at ANCA Outdoor School Summit being interviewed for a podcast about the National Outdoor School for All Consortium members push for outdoor school for all throughout the country. We’ll share the podcast with you when it’s available! 😉

What are the most important issues outdoor schools like IslandWood are grappling with right now?

The most pressing issues I heard at the Summit include managing the increased costs of delivering outdoor school while continuing to ensure high-quality programming, school system pressures and challenges across the country that impact school’s ability to attend outdoor learning, rising property insurance, and uncertainty on how federal changes in education may affect states and outdoor school.

What will IslandWood’s advocacy efforts focus on in 2025?

We are focused on our north star – achieving our vision of 100% of students in Washington State receiving nature-based learning, in particular focusing first on students attending under-resourced schools. Our policy priorities this year include:

• Advocating for fully funding Outdoor School for All, which prioritizes funding under-resourced schools to attend outdoor school (While Washington State does currently provide funding for Outdoor School for All, it doesn’t fund it at the level required to ensure all students can attend outdoor school. We’ll keep working until we get there!)
• Advocating for full funding of climate science learning in Washington schools
• Guiding implementation of the Outdoor School for All bill in Washington through our work on the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) Advisory Board
• Continue to collaborate, partner, and work with coalitions across the state in our efforts to ensure every child has the opportunity to attend outdoor school

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