WEST BOISE, Idaho — The National Outdoor Learning Alliance (NOLA) is a local nonprofit working to get kids into Idaho's wilderness. The program hosts before and after school classes intended to teach kids about nature, in nature.
- NOLA recently received a grant from the Whittenberger Foundation to give access for low income families to this program
- NOLA is a part of the EverWild Forest School
- The program is held at Veterans Memorial Park in Boise
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
Climbing, learning, and exploring.
“They get to explore nature not through a screen. Not through a worksheet, but actually see it with their own eyes and touch it with their own hands,” said Megan Koehler, a local parent.
That's the goal of the National Outdoor Learning Alliance and even though Tuesday's class was canceled due to temperatures, Megan Koehler says that her kids have learned how to brave sometimes rugged weather.
“That [has] been really important on the days that maybe the weather is a little bit harder to navigate, but they have built really amazing resiliency around weather and pushing themselves in ways that they are really comfortable with,” said Koehler.
The nature-based program teaches kids about the outdoors, no matter the season, by letting them explore Idaho's wilderness, through outdoor lessons at Veterans Memorial Park.
“This is an investment into, not only our children and their development, but also the way that they will end up treating the earth hopefully later on,” said Erica Hermsen, Executive Director of National Outdoor Learning Alliance.
And with no tablets, phones, or iPad’s, kids get a chance not only to interact fully with their environment but with each other.
“The kids have a very rare opportunity to come out and enjoy nature as it is, and they build resilience, they build confidence and again connection to the land and to nature," said Hermsen.
And occasionally collecting nature too.
“One of them almost always has a stick in hand. I’ve got about 12 sticks in the back of my car right now. They’re all unique. They’re all special,” said Koehler.
A recent grant from the Whittenberger Foundation is also helping give access to classes like this to low income families, so that everybody has an opportunity to learn outdoors.
