Outdoor Classrooms Podcast

🌱 Episode 186: Growing a Greener Future with CitySprouts: Pubic School Gardens for Teaching & Learning
In this episode, Victoria talks with Alex Frank of CitySprouts about how school gardens function as both science labs and creative spaces. Together, they explore how urban school gardens cultivate curiosity, connection, and meaningful learning experiences for students and educators alike—while growing a greener future from the ground up.
🌿 In This Episode, We Explore:
Why school gardens are both a science and an art
How hands-on garden learning sparks curiosity and wonder in students
What makes urban school gardens powerful spaces for learning and community
The role of after-school and summer programs in deepening garden-based learning
How educators and gardeners build momentum together through shared practice and collaboration
🌼 Meet Alex:
Alex Frank is the Senior Program Manager at CitySprouts, an urban gardening nonprofit based in Cambridge and Boston. CitySprouts’ mission is to cultivate curiosity and wonder in students through hands-on science learning in their own schoolyard gardens.
Alex oversees CitySprouts’ Green Team program, a tuition-free afterschool and summer initiative that provides teens with opportunities to work learn outdoors in their own communities—building skills and experience that support future green education and career pathways.
He also coordinates the Boston-Area School Gardens Conference, a professional development gathering that brings educators, gardeners, and community partners together to share best practices and strengthen the urban school garden movement.
🌼 Contact Alex:
You can follow our Facebook, Instagram (@citysproutsma), and LinkedIn pages, as well as explore our website (citysprouts.org) for information, curriculum, blogposts, and more!
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Join the Outdoor Classrooms Community:
Want to continue the conversation, access our workshop library, or collaborate with like-minded educators?
👉 Join the CIRCLE Membership and grow into a more confident, connected outdoor classroom leader.
FREE Outdoor Classroom Resource:
🌿 Our Children's Library: 4 Types of Teaching Gardens Booklist (PDF) (halfway down the page)
Outdoor Classroom Resources & Links:
🎓 Outdoor Classrooms Teacher Certification Program
🎓 Outdoor Teaching Bootcamp
🎓 Seasonal Masterclass Bundle (includes Exploring Nature in Winter Masterclass)
🎓 Teaching Beyond Walls Capstone Course
🌸 CIRCLE Membership for Educators
🌿 30-Day Gratitude...

In Sync with Nature: Lessons in Rhythm, Pause, and Presence
In this reflective episode, we explore what the natural world can teach us about staying in sync—especially for educators and caregivers who spend their days responding to the needs of others.
Nature is not balanced because it avoids disruption, but because it integrates it. Through seasons, storms, rest, and regeneration, the natural world offers powerful lessons about rhythm, timing, and presence—lessons that are often easy to forget in professions built around constant giving.
Recorded during a season of personal vulnerability, this episode invites listeners to look to nature as a teacher rather than a backdrop. It’s a reminder that pauses are not interruptions, and slowing down is not a failure—it’s part of how balance is restored.
This conversation is for educators and caregivers who feel stretched, tender, or out of sync, and are longing to return to a rhythm that feels sustainable and true.
In this episode, we explore:
What nature teaches us about rhythm, seasons, and timing
Why pause is an essential part of balance, not a disruption
How presence helps educators and caregivers stay aligned while holding so much
Living in response rather than resistance
Learning to listen—when life slows us down
Reflection for listeners:
What might change if we trusted rhythm instead of rushing it?
In this reflective episode, we explore what the natural world can teach us about staying in sync—especially for educators and caregivers who spend their days responding to the needs of others.
Nature is not balanced because it avoids disruption, but because it integrates it. Through seasons, storms, rest, and regeneration, the natural world offers powerful lessons about rhythm, timing, and presence—lessons that are often easy to forget in professions built around constant giving.
Recorded during a season of personal vulnerability, this episode invites listeners to look to nature as a teacher rather than a backdrop. It’s a reminder that pauses are not interruptions, and slowing down is not a failure—it’s part of how balance is restored.
This conversation is for educators and caregivers who feel stretched, tender, or out of sync, and are longing to return to a rhythm that feels sustainable and true.
In this episode, we explore:
What nature teaches us about rhythm, seasons, and timing
Why pause is an essential part of balance, not a disruption
How presence helps educators and caregivers stay aligned while holding so much
Living in response rather than resistance
Learning to listen—when life slows us down
Reflection for listeners:
What might change if we trusted rhythm instead of rushing it?
Join the Outdoor Classrooms Community:
Want to continue the conversation, access our workshop library, or collaborate with like-minded educators?
👉 Join the CIRCLE Membership and grow into a more confident, connected outdoor classroom leader.
FREE Outdoor Classroom Resource:
🌿 Our Children's Library: 4 Types of Teaching Gardens Booklist (PDF) (halfway down the page)
Outdoor Classroom Resources & Links:
🎓 Outdoor Classrooms Teacher Certification Program
🎓 Outdoor Teaching Bootcamp
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184: Imperfect Sustainability: Building Environmental Literacy in the Outdoor Classroom with Alexa Pavan
What does sustainability look like in the outdoor classroom—without the pressure to be perfect?
In this episode, Victoria talks with sustainability advocate and content creator Alexa Pavan about weaving environmental and sustainability literacy into outdoor classrooms in meaningful, accessible ways. Together, they explore how outdoor learning can help children understand their connection to the planet while modeling curiosity, care, and progress over perfection.
🌿 Meet Alexa:
Alexa Pavan is an imperfect sustainability advocate, eco content creator, and writer for sustainable businesses and environmental organizations. With a background in Biomedical Science and Public Health, she makes climate and environmental topics more approachable for everyday Americans through fun, light, and practical content. Alexa is especially passionate about composting, ocean conservation, and protecting both the planet and the people who inhabit it.
🌿 Contact Alexa:
https://www.instagram.com/gogreenwithalexa
https://www.youtube.com/@gogreenwithalexa
www.gogreenwithalexa.com
[email protected]
Join the Outdoor Classrooms Community:
Want to continue the conversation, access our workshop library, or collaborate with like-minded educators?
👉 Join the CIRCLE Membership and grow into a more confident, connected outdoor classroom leader.
FREE Outdoor Classroom Resource:
🌿 Our Children's Library: 4 Types of Teaching Gardens Booklist (PDF) (halfway down the page)
Outdoor Classroom Resources & Links:
🎓 Outdoor Classrooms Teacher Certification Program
🎓 Outdoor Teaching Bootcamp
🎓 Seasonal Masterclass Bundle (includes Exploring Nature in Winter Masterclass)
🎓 Teaching Beyond Walls Capstone Course
🌸 CIRCLE Membership for Educators
🌿 30-Day Gratitude in Nature Challenge
🌸 1-hour Online Workshop Library
Connect with Victoria:
WEBSITE: www.outdoor-classrooms.com
EMAIL: [email protected]
Instagram:

January is a hard month in education—and winter often takes the blame.
When directors call asking for ideas, strategies, or professional development, what they’re often really asking is: How do we support educators through this season?
In this episode, we explore what sits beneath those January phone calls and why winter isn’t the problem it’s made out to be. Rather than offering quick fixes, this conversation focuses on what nature-based educators truly need right now: permission to slow down, validation, strong pedagogy, and reconnection to purpose.
This episode is for directors, coaches, and educators navigating the long stretch of winter.
In This Episode:
Why January feels especially heavy in schools
What schools think educators need vs. what they actually need
How winter reveals cracks rather than creating them
Why resistance is information, not failure
The shift from activities to pedagogy in winter
Winter isn’t asking educators to try harder.
It’s asking us to root deeper.
Join the Community:
Want to continue the conversation, access our workshop library, or collaborate with like-minded educators?
👉 Join the CIRCLE Membership and grow into a more confident, connected outdoor classroom leader.
Workshop Mentioned: Rooted in Nature: Foundations of Nature-Based Pedagogy (included in CIRCLE Membership)
FREE Resource:
🌿 Our Children's Library: 4 Types of Teaching Gardens Booklist (PDF) (halfway down the page)
Resources & Links:
🎓 Outdoor Classrooms Teacher Certification Program
🎓 Outdoor Teaching Bootcamp
🎓 Seasonal Masterclass Bundle (includes Exploring Nature in Winter Masterclass)
🎓 Teaching Beyond Walls Capstone Course
🌸 CIRCLE Membership for Educators
🌿 30-Day Gratitude in Nature Challenge
🌸 1-hour Online Workshop Library
Connect with Victoria:
WEBSITE: www.outdoor-classrooms.com
EMAIL: [email protected]
Instagram: instagram.com/outdoor_classrooms/
Facebook: Facebook.com/OutdoorClassrooms1
Related Episodes:
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Episode 182: "Oh, The Places You Will Go" – Ocean State Kids with Marial Leisge
Join us for a behind-the-scenes tour with Marial Leisge, founder of Ocean State Kids, a nonprofit supporting parents as their child’s most influential teacher. In this Circle Member Tour & Talk, we explore the many programs Ocean State Kids offers across Rhode Island, from outdoor learning spaces to hands-on experiences that nurture curiosity, creativity, and connection in children.
💡 Circle Members get exclusive access to the full photo tour! Become a member today to go behind the scenes and see how Ocean State Kids empowers families to support their children’s growth.
Inside this episode, you’ll discover:
Stories and photos from Ocean State Kids’ programs across Rhode Island.
How Marial fosters exploration, independence, and playful learning.
Inspiration for parents, educators, and caregivers to create meaningful, nature-based experiences for children.
About Marial Leisge:
Marial Leisge is the founder of Ocean State Kids, a thriving community that helps parents become their child’s most influential teacher. A former branding and marketing professional, she shifted her career to education after her own journey into motherhood inspired a passion for supporting children and families in new, intentional ways.
Marial is a CIRCLE Member and part of the Outdoor Classrooms Teacher Certification program, deepening her expertise in nature-based learning, child development, and inclusive education. Her experiences as a mother to her son Otto, a Gestalt Language Processor, have shaped her approach to creating programs that honor children’s unique learning styles, foster confidence, and encourage curiosity.
Whether she’s leading outdoor programs, crafting parent-centered workshops, or simply enjoying a moment of wonder with her own family, Marial is dedicated to building communities where children can explore, grow, and thrive—and where parents are empowered to guide them every step of the way.
🎧 Tune in and see the places young learners—and their guides—can go!
🌱 A Note for Potential Sponsors
As we head into 2026, Outdoor Classrooms is seeking values-aligned sponsors who believe in nature-based education, community-centered learning, and teaching beyond walls.
If that sounds like you—or someone you know—we’d love to connect.
🔗 Learn More & Stay Connected:
FREE Resource: www.outdoor-classrooms.com
🌿 Our Children's Library: 4 Types of Teaching Gardens Booklist (PDF) (halfway down the page)
Resources & Links:
🎓 Outdoor Classrooms Teacher Certification Program
🎓 Outdoor Teaching Bootcamp
🎓 Seasonal Masterclass Bundle (includes Exploring Nature in Winter Masterclass)
🎓 Teaching Beyond Walls Capstone Course
🌸 CIRCLE Membership for Educators
🌿 30-Day Gratitude in Nature Challenge
🌸