EARTHWILDERS

Earthwilders is a project-based social-emotional learning curriculum for after school programs. Students build resiliency, empathy, and community with each other and the natural world through restoring local ecosystems.

EarthWilders empowers youth with social-emotional skills through restoring local ecosystems. Youth meet weekly for eight weeks to build resilience, empathy, and community while learning about ecosystem restoration. The program allows kids to have a positive outdoor learning experience with their friends and community!

EarthWilders was started in Burien, Washington, in partnership with the New Futures afterschool program for middle school students. Sessions take place at a local park, where students work to remove noxious plant species and replace them with native plants. Students build deep relationships with the forest that they are creating, the biodiversity they are building, and the people with whom they share this experience. Throughout the program, students learn emotional skills, such as how emotions impact many different parts of our lives and relationships, how to recognize emotions in ourselves and in each other, and how to cope with difficult circumstances in healthy, productive ways. The program also addresses eco-anxiety, or the fears many people have of the future in a rapidly changing climate, through reconnecting students to the land and engaging them in a tangible climate solution.