“I always emphasize the kinship with Na’a (Mother Earth) because that’s where everything begins. It’s where all of our education begins.”  

(Saa’kokoto, Blackfoot Elder Randy Bottle) 

October 18, 2023 is “Take Me Outside” day, a national initiative aimed at getting students outdoors to engage in their learning. The day emerged around a belief “in a future where spending time outside learning, playing and exploring is a regular and significant part of every learner's day” (Takemeoutside.ca).  

On Wednesday, many teachers will take their classes outside to learn both on and from the land. Students may observe seasonal changes, consider the ways plants and animals rely on the land, sketch scenes from different points of view, create art with natural objects or consider larger questions regarding what the land can teach us. Learning, reflecting, sitting, and playing on the land sparks creativity, inspires questions, facilitates self-regulation and is often simply a lot of fun. 

As previously shared, this year our staff has committed to furthering their own understanding of how we can learn with, from, about and on the land. As a learning community, we will explore what the land can teach us about connections and belonging. By taking our learning outside, we will begin to plant the seeds for meaningful connections between ourselves and the land around us, where our education begins. 

This Wednesday, I also encourage families to take themselves outside. While immersed in the outdoors, take time to reflect on your own relationship with the land and how you and your family can continue to foster time to learn both from the land and on the land. ​

Sincerely,

Lisa Patten

Acting Principal