SOL Forest School
We have turned 7 years around the sun!
Soulful ~ Outdoor ~ Learning
News & Articles
2023
The Forest Educator Podcast, Episode 35, featuring Sally-Wren Stevens, hosted by Ricardo Sierra
October 5, 2023. "It can be a lonely path doing this work, especially when we just get started in an area and no one quite understands what we are trying to do, what we hope to create and the value of our work. It takes a lot of courage to try to convince established schools to try something new, and truly give it a chance, but Sally-Wren apparently is fearless and willing to step up to the plate and swing for the fences!" Listen here:
Apple Podcasts
"New Mexico bill could mandate outdoor learning", Marilyn Upchurch, KRQE NEWS
(krqe.com), February 14, 2023. "State lawmakers want to give students more opportunities to go out of the classroom, get fresh air, and learn about the outdoors during school days...[P]roposed Senate Bill 289...[i]f passed, it would mandate outdoor learning in public K through 12 schools across the state." SOL's Miss Sally is interviewed for this local news report.
2022
"Outdoor Class! Outdoor Learning Set to Start in NM's Public Schools", Gwynne Ann Unruh, New Mexico Kids!
(newmexico-kids.com), July/August 2022. "SOL Forest School has been ahead of the curve in New Mexico with extracurricular outdoor learning since 2017, using the Cibola National Forest and the East Mountains as its classroom".
"Naturally Inclusive: Engaging Children of All Abilities Outdoors", Ruth Wilson, PhD, April, 2022. SOL is featured in this newly released book by author Ruth Wilson, PhD, an early fan & supporter of SOL, as well as a New Mexican resident. She is also an early pioneer of nature-based programming in early childhood. Thank you Ruth for this wonderful Offering to the nature-based learning field!
2021
"Opinion: After Bracing For The Worst During Pandemic Schooling, We Found Hope And Value In Outdoor Learning", Karen Cowe and Craig Strang, The Hechinger Report (hechingerreport.org), June 21, 2021. "Lessons from outdoor learning, a game changer we hope is here to stay". SOL Forest School is featured as the leading image illustrating an outdoor education model in pandemic times.
"Outdoor Preschools Grow In Popularity But Most Serve Middle Class White Kids", Tina Deines, The Hechinger Report (hechingerreport.org), February 19, 2021. SOL Forest School is featured in this national non-profit newsroom that covers innovation and inequality in education. Sally Anderson elaborates on some of the reasons access to all-outdoor nature-based forest schools are largely out of reach for many children.
"How to Play Outside More This Winter, According to Outdoor-School Teachers", Rose Maura Lorre, New York Times/Wirecutter (nytimes.com/wirecutter), January 26, 2021. Featuring an interview with SOL Forest School's Sally Anderson.
2020
"Community Champion: Sally Anderson, Founder of SOL Forest School", Maria Okorn, Spirituality & Health (spiritualityhealth.com), September 29, 2020. Featuring an interview with Sally on her inspiration for starting SOL Forest School.
"It Takes A Village", Sarah Candelaria, Nature Niños, Children & Nature Network (childrenandnature.org), August, 2020. Highlighting the collaborative work of Nature Niños, an initiative of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation (NMWF), with Sally Anderson/SOL Forest School, and many others in bringing more opportunities to families, educators and communities to rally together as a "nature village", using nature as a source of stability and strength in trying times.
2019
"Happy Hands, Happy Hearts: Forest Day Learning at the New Mexico School for the Deaf", Sally Anderson, Natural Start Alliance (naturalstart.org), January 2019.
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