Inspiration, Place, and Possibility: 2025 Outdoor Learning Symposium Recap

On July 31, 2025, educators from across Kentucky gathered in Whitesburg for the Outdoor Learning Symposium (OLS). It was a full-day professional learning event designed for K–12 teachers and administrators eager to take learning outside the walls of the classroom. Hosted at Cowan Elementary School, the day offered more than just professional development—it was a celebration of place-based, outdoor learning rooted in the unique landscapes and communities of eastern Kentucky.

With a packed schedule of hands-on workshops, networking opportunities, and inspiring dialogue, OLS empowered educators with fresh strategies, tools, and connections to support outdoor and environmental learning in their schools.

Ronny Goins, Director of Assessment at Letcher County Public Schools, and a vital partner in hosting the event, shared this reflection:

"It was a great day of collaboration and learning. I truly believe our teachers came away inspired, and with an ample supply of resources and network partners to allow them to bring their ideas to life. I can't wait to see the vibrant learning experiences the students of Letcher County participate in as a result of this symposium!"

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Digging Into the Day: Sessions That Sparked Curiosity

After morning coffee and welcome remarks, participants jumped into their first session of the day:

Taking Learning Outside. For many teachers, getting students outdoors feels intimidating, and this session tackled that hesitation head-on. Participants explored practical tools for managing time, behavior, materials, and content during outdoor learning experiences. They took part in an outdoor lesson themselves and reviewed real examples of Kentucky students engaging in standards-based outdoor learning. Discussions allowed teams to brainstorm how to adapt their own curriculum for the outdoors.

Kentucky Green Schools: In this energizing session, educators explored how to launch a Green Schools program on their campus, which was complete with hands-on investigations, student-led initiatives, and a roadmap for forming a “green team” of student changemakers. With easy-to-access resources and plenty of support, teachers were ready to jumpstart sustainability efforts at their schools.

Flood Preparedness: Using Local Data to Inform Active Learning: This interactive workshop showed how stream monitoring and  local data can help students understand and respond to both drought and high water events in their own communities. Teachers learned how to engage students in hands-on, science-driven investigations that connect water systems, resilience, and action.

Integrating English/Language Arts with Place-Based Learning: This session explored how outdoor experiences can deepen reading comprehension and content knowledge, especially through programs like Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA), recently adopted by Letcher County Schools. Teachers spent time getting in Cowan Creek, connecting ELA standards with real-world, nature-based contexts.

River Cowboys Film & Water Education: This workshop featured a screening of the short film River Cowboys: Keepin’ It Wild, which highlights themes of river conservation, community, and resilience. Educators explored a companion discussion guide designed to spark powerful classroom conversations, helping students engage with local waterways, diverse community voices, and the challenges facing Kentucky’s rivers and the people who rely on them.

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George Ella Lyon

The Power of Place

One of the most powerful moments of the day came at noon, when participants gathered to hear from George Ella Lyon, Kentucky’s beloved writer, poet, and educator. Raised near the Cumberland River in Harlan County, Lyon spoke about the power of place, story, and imagination in education. Her keynote wove together personal reflection, poetry, and a celebration of vibrant, outdoor learning rooted in the land and culture of eastern Kentucky.

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Community Partners

The day of learning ended with an opportunity for teachers to connect with partners who can help support them along their outdoor learning journey. Many thanks to the partners who joined us to help round out this inspirational day!

• Kentucky Environmental Education Council

• Kentucky Department of Education

• Kentucky Division of Water

• Kentucky Mesonet

• Kentucky Waterways Alliance

• Pine Mountain Settlement School

• SOURCE Cowan Interns

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The event was hosted by KAEE in partnership with a deeply engaged local planning team and generous sponsors. Many thanks to: Cowan Elementary School and Letcher County Public Schools, The Cooperative Consortium for Transdisciplinary Social Justice Research, Double Kwik, Cowan Community Center, and The Berry Center Farm & Forest Institute.

And a special shoutout to our OLS Action Team:

• Mary Brydon-Miller, University of Louisville

• Valerie Horn, Cowan Community Center

• Vanessa Vanover, Cowan Elementary School

• Ronny Goins, Letcher County Public Schools

• Vivian Bowles, KAEE Board Member & Facilitator

• The KAEE Team

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Looking Ahead

From creekside reading to real-world data, every session offered something meaningful, and the shared commitment to taking learning outside was evident in every conversation.

KAEE is grateful to the educators who joined us and to the partners who helped make it happen. Here’s to more outdoor learning, more collaboration, and a future where every Kentucky student has the chance to learn from the world around them!

KAEE Hosted the 7th Annual Outdoor Learning Symposium at Northside Elementary School in Midway

The Kentucky Association for Environmental Education (KAEE) hosted the 7th annual Outdoor Learning Symposium on May 30th at Northside Elementary School in Midway, Kentucky. Sixty-three educators and administrators from across the state participated in interactive sessions focusing on outdoor learning and environmental education.

Outdoor Learning Sessions

The day started with the Keynote address “Education for Homecoming,” given by Dr. Leah Baynes, director of The Farm and Forest Institute, one of four branches of The Berry Center that grew naturally from the work of Kentucky writer, farmer, and teacher Wendell Berry. Dr. Bayens invited everyone to reflect on how outdoor education plays a critical (and creaturely) role in an imperative lesson: how to make ourselves at home–that is, how to live well with and from a place.

The topics covered during the symposium included teaching and managing students outdoors, engaging students in the Kentucky Green Schools program, connecting curriculum and standards to place, and how connection with nature can build resilience in students. Sessions also included real-life examples from participants of the Kentucky Green Schools program and teachers from Northside Elementary and how they incorporated environmental education into their curriculum at nearby Walter Bradley Park through a partnership with Bluegrass Greensource. 

The KY Department of Agriculture set up its Mobile Science Activity Center for demonstrations. A session hosted by KAEE discussed data collected from schools across the Southeast region of the United States and sought the input of teachers and administrations in the session regarding how KAEE can support schools in building more outdoor spaces and environmental education into their curriculum.

Before the event came to a close, Woodford County Judge Executive James Kay said a few words to encourage the educators of Woodford County and Kentucky and to remind them how important environmental education is for our students and our world.

“It was refreshing to see that you can implement quality education outdoors without an expensive outdoor classroom and a boatload of materials. You can accomplish this with little to no materials as long as you know what you are doing and why you are going outdoors.” -OLS Educator

Kentucky Green Schools Recognition

KAEE announced the winner of the Kentucky Green Schools School of the Year award, Community Montessori School, in Lexington, KY. Lead teacher, Erin Rush, and her Green Team students were invited to attend and receive their award.

Tichenor Middle School teacher Steven McNabb and his Green Team were also honored at the Outdoor Learning Symposium for reaching the Silver Level of recognition during the last school year. 

Community Partner Networking

Educators ended the day with a Community Partner Networking Session where they connected with local partners who support outdoor learning for students. The community partners represented included:

Bluegrass Greensource	The Creative School	Free Forest School	Friends of Walter Bradley Park
Huntertown Community Interpretive Park	KY Association of Conservation Districts	KY Environmental Education Council	KY Division of Forestry
KY Division of Water	KY Farm to School Network	KY Water Research Institute	Life Adventure Center
Locust Trace Agriscience Center—The Kentucky Castle Partnership	Rail Explorers	Raven Run Nature Sanctuary	Redwood Cooperative School
Seedleaf	Woodford Co. Cooperative Extension 4-H	Woodford Co. Free Forest School	Woods & Waters Land Trust

“Getting kids outside in any capacity helps all of us in so many ways.” -OLS Educator

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KAEE would like to thank each of the speakers of the event: 

• Dr. Leah Baynes, The Berry Center Farm and Forest Institute

• Ashley Hoffman, KAEE

• Brittany Wray, KAEE

• Kalee Gregg, KY Department of Agriculture

• Kristen Taylor, Northside Elementary

• Kyle Yarrow, Life Adventure Center

• Perry Thomas, KAEE

• Rachel Patton, Bluegrass Greensource

• Vivian Bowles, Retired Teacher, Madison County Schools

They’d also like to extend a special thanks to Northside Elementary School and Principal Scott Hundley for hosting and to Woodford County Schools for including the symposium in their Best Practices Academy and opening up this professional development opportunity to all of their teachers.

This year’s symposium had numerous sponsors who helped make it happen, including Kentucky Sustainable Forestry Initiative’s Implementation Committee, Woodford County Conservation District, Central Equipment Company Show Place Realty, Fouser Environmental Services, Midway Small Animal Clinic, and Wallace Station who donated the dessert for lunch.

KAEE’s Outdoor Learning Symposium Action Team is Responsible for planning the OLS each year. Thank you to this year’s action team members:

Perry Thomas Kentucky Association for Environmental Education co-chair	Vivian Ross Woodford County Conservation District co-chair
Ryan Asher Woodford County Board of Education	Jennifer Huefner Woodford County Conservation District
Scott Hundley Northside Elementary	Susan Tracy Woodford County Board of Education
Kyle Yarrow Life Adventure Center

The Outdoor Learning Symposium is an annual event held in a different location in Kentucky. This event is designed to meet the needs of PreK-12 administrators and teachers interested in exploring ways to engage students in environmental education (EE) experiences and cross-curricular outdoor learning. You can learn more about the Outdoor Learning Symposium on our website.

40 Educators Gather for KAEE's Annual Outdoor Learning Symposium

On Thursday, June 2, 40 educators gathered at East Jessamine Middle School in Nicholasville for a day of learning, connections, and fun. The event was Kentucky Association for Environmental Education’s annual Outdoor Learning Symposium, which inspires and activates K-12 educators and administrators to integrate outdoor learning and environmental education into their existing curriculum and school day routines.

“It was so refreshing to gather again in person for this annual event full of collaboration and learning,” said KAEE outreach director Katherine Bullock. “It’s always a delight to meet the ‘boots on the ground’ teachers and administrators who care deeply about connecting their students to the outdoors and finding new ways to integrate environmental education into the lives of their students.”

The event has two separate strands, one designed for classroom teachers, and one for administrators, such as principals, assistant and associate principals, department team leaders, professional development directors, school district leaders.

This year, the teacher strand included sessions about the many ways environmental education can support three-dimensional learning and the Kentucky Academic Standards for Science; how to manage place, time, materials, and behavior expectations when teaching outdoors; active water projects taking place in Kentucky and how local river basin coordinators can support (and visit) teachers’ classrooms; and how to simplify the gardening experience by using seed mats, which make it possible for students to participate in both the planning and planting process.

Teachers spent much of their time in the outdoors, getting first-hand hands-on experience with environmental education lessons. Activities included modeling of outdoor classroom management skills, demonstrations of interdisciplinary uses of the school grounds, practical turn-key lessons that can be adapted to any age group, and ways to effectively pitch the idea of outdoor learning to school administrators.

As part of the administrator strand, attendees learned about the research-based benefits of outdoor learning and EE at school; how to identify and fund outdoor learning opportunities for their schools (including how to write grants, crowdfund, and seek community sponsorships); administrator perspectives on the benefits of using the outdoors as a classroom; and how experiences in the outdoors can help facilitate the instructional practices and emphasize the three-dimensional thinking needed to demonstrate understanding of the science KY Academic Standards.

Delivering the keynote was Rae McEntyre, K-12 Science consultant at the Kentucky Department of Education. Rae been at the Department of Education for the past 13 years, after spending 20 years teaching high school biology and earth science. Rae is a member of the KAEE Board of Directors and a certified professional environmental educator. Rae discussed the ways outdoor learning and environmental education are distinct but intertwined and how hands-on, interdisciplinary learning is crucial to both. The final session of the day was “Community Partner Speed Networking,” where attendees had the opportunity to meet with representatives from EE organizations around the state. Those who were present to share information about their work and how they can help teachers and administrators incorporate EE into their schools were Bluegrass Greensource, EcoGro, the Kentucky Department of Education, the Kentucky Division of Air Quality, the Kentucky Environmental Education Council, Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute, Lexington Parks and Recreation, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

“Kentucky is so lucky to have such wonderful resources to enhance outdoor learning and EE in the classroom,” Katherine said. “We so much appreciate all of the volunteers from our various community partners who came to share ways they can support classroom teachers and school districts.” The Outdoor Learning Symposium was funded in part by a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under §319(h) of the Clean Water Act and in partnership with the Kentucky Division of Water as the state host for the Project WET program. A special thanks to our site hosts, East Jessamine Middle School and Emily Sorrell (sixth-grade science teacher at East Jessamine Middle).