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Stage.

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Thank you,
everybody, and it's

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great to see you

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all this afternoon
virtually.

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And I appreciate

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the opportunity to
share with you some of

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the work we've been doing

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here in southwest
Washington.

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And he hit me
at their help.

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They go get sorry
about that.

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I'm going to be
talking to you about

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green school yards today.

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And it's a concept that is

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a national initiatives
as well as

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international
initiatives to bring

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more green to our
school campuses.

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And there's lots of
different lenses and

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perspectives that we
can use for this work.

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I'm including
academic performance,

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hands-on learning skills,

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building health and

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well-being, and on and on.

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But today we'll
kinda focused on

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the ecology portion of it

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with the Climate Action
action strategies.

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And in Washington State,

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we have some great
top-down approaches

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to support this work.

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In our Department of
Education called OS PI,

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we have the
Washington State

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sustainability protocols

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in climate Client time

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is that the climate
curriculum?

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So we have some
great statewide

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initiatives to
support this work.

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And when you look through

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that work, Of course,

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it's going to talk about
the green buildings,

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composting and recycling,

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transportation
and other pieces.

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But today we'll
focus on that

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green school
yard component

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and the human
component as well.

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So why schools?

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I'd been doing

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ecological
restoration work for

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25 plus years in
Michigan, Washington.

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And I'm focusing on
schools because there's

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such great opportunity
and such a huge need.

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In southwest Washington
and Vancouver,

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you'll see the green
corridors are,

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are ripe hearing quarters,

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the Salmon Creek,

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verbage Creek in
the Columbia River,

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of course.

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And we start to layer

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in all those public lands,

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parks, and in

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state and federal
properties as well.

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But when you add in
the pink blobs and

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rectangles and squares
there and you start to

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see where all the school
properties come in,

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you really start to
get a much denser.

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We've Ecological quarters.

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In the Vancouver School
District alone serves

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over 25 thousand people

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with students and staff,

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let alone all the families

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that live in those
communities.

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Evergreen is the green
circle to the right.

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They also have very
comparable numbers,

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if not a little
bit higher.

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And the properties
that they

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have is landowners
is quite

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significant throughout

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the urban and
suburban system.

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And when you go to
those properties,

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this is what you'll
generally see

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in Vancouver,
Vancouver area.

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In Portland, he has
much denser situations.

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But generally, you'll see

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these fenced in
properties anywhere

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from three to 20 acres

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depending on the
size of the school.

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But it's mostly
pavement buildings

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in a very highly
maintain ground surface,

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which we may call
longer-term for

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or other
populations there.

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But the main landscape
that you see on

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the campuses are driven

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out of code compliance,

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whether it's the city
or the county codes

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with street trees

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and parking lot
requirements,

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of course, trying to get

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to that impervious
surface.

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A reduction of heat
island effects

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in getting infiltration
rates up, et cetera.

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We have lots of green
stormwater components

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now with our OR State and

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city-wide components

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for green
stormwater pieces

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and maybe some
landscaping that the

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fun of the building
to welcome

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people into the building.

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But it's not that much.

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And when you look at

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where the people actually

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are on the school
grounds during the day,

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they're out in
the back area of

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the campus where
there's hardly

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any vegetation whatsoever.

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And if you'll notice
kinda that green ring

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around the edge of
where they actually

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turn the irrigation on.

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It's not where
the people are.

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And this is a challenge.

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So we're trying to
bring up the edge where

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the people driving
bible see these places.

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But now we're, the
people are actually

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interacting with
campus day-to-day.

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And I was really struck
by a phrase that

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rubber Michael Pyle
use when he was

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the keynote speaker
just before COVID hit.

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And he said we're
efficient, the,

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facing the extinction of

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experience for our youth.

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We have a generation
of parents

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and a generation of,

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of their kids not
being able to

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access nature and
understand nature.

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And Richard LUV,
the author,

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has coined the term
nature deficit disorder.

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We really are sending

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our kids to these spaces

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that don't have
a lot of nature.

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So recently Vancouver
in Evergreen passed

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a bond program that

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allowed for these
really rich,

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diverse conversations

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that provided some
top-down direction,

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but also allowed for

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grassroots and
community involvement.

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So there were these
really rich ideas

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of how to make
campuses better.

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Including the layers

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of ecological
improvements,

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green school yards, and
all these features.

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They really help
the health well,

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health and well-being
over the school,

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but also of the
environment as well.

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In some of the design
components that

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included are
always hands-on,

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interactive, engaging,
inspiring places,

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as well as calming places.

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We now know lots of

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research has shown
that nature.

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Connections,
especially in post

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trauma situations
like COVID,

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are really helpful for

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people to be
feeling successful.

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What places to explore,
discovered, inspire.

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And we now know from
research dating back

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to the early
80s that views

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of nature from Windows is

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incredibly important to

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our health and well-being.

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It also improves academic

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performance if
trees are within

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200 meters of

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window for academic
performance.

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So we really work to try

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to create views and create

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spaces where people can

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interact with nature
on a daily basis.

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We also allowed
for more spaces

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outside of the
building together,

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whether for learning,
for recess,

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for projects,
after-school clubs, etc.

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Attempt them in
under the trees

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whenever we could.

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We, we really shook up

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the word play and how

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plate happens on campus,

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moving to more inclusive
play structures.

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But beyond that,
lots of other things

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for kids to do for play,

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including hands-on
digging, exploring,

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really get into
natural elements and

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letting kids pick
up sticks in

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cones and build and

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create and really explore
their campus that

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has this much
richer diversity of

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plants in
therefore wildlife

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happening on the campuses.

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Taking away the
connotation of gardens.

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That a school
garden is just for

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growing tomatoes
and vegetables,

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which is great for

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food security
education of course.

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But really trying to

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diversify the
types of plants,

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the layers of
canopy that happen.

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We need more
trees for shade

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as you saw in that
school example I use

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there was no shade
other than from

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the buildings on, but
really diversifying.

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When I started
10 years ago,

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I was not allowed
to put any

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flowers on the
campus where

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kids would be because

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of the bee sting concerns.

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That has changed
dramatically.

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And we're now
adding all sorts of

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different types
of landscape,

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vegetation and
habitat on campuses.

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We're also allowing for

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lots of great
learning to happen

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beyond just what
the teachers can do

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outside but also
self-directed learning,

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really supporting
kids to have.

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She has to
discover, explore,

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express themselves
with art

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and really practice

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their observations
and comparing

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and contrasting on
campuses as well.

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And just to look

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at Vancouver
School District,

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they built several
replacement

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Ellis elementary schools

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as well as new
elementary schools,

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were really trying
to rethink how

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our campuses or use

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that top picture
with the path.

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And it was Harney
Elementary and

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a third of their
campus was not

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used on because they

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thought it was too far

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away from the building.

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Well, we added a fifth
of a mile loop path.

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So now that the entire
campus is accessible,

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including this
beautiful grove of

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trees that has lots

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of different uses
underneath that for a tree,

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there's now lots of
gardens happening.

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There's learning
courtyards that

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kids can see
from the window.

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They can make observations
if it's rainy day,

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they can see
what's happening

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in these landscape and

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vegetated areas as well as

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go out to say a meadow.

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Vancouver has its
first meadow,

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which is just a
rare happening

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in any urban environments.

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So kids can
really experience

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that little micro-climate,

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et cetera, in gardens

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right up close to
the buildings.

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Evergreen as well.
Replace a number

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of their outdated schools,

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create a courtyards
where there's

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adaptable and
flexible learning.

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So you can take
your science lesson

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off a worksheet
and outside

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ensue actual
learning examples

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so kids can learn

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about animals
in the habitat,

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outside in the habitat

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or butterflies, etcetera.

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Chances once again to dig,

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get close to the trees

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and really move
around the campus.

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And another exciting
part of this work

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is creating these campus
update plans that

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gives a 10-year vision for

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these campuses where

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the community
can contribute.

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We can build
partnerships with

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folks like Friends of
trees and the Citibank.

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Citibank who was urban
forestry program

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to add lots
more nature in.

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And these features
over time to really

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make these rich
environments

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00:08:57,695 --> 00:09:00,200
in these projects
can continue to fund

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00:09:00,200 --> 00:09:01,610
raise and give more apart

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00:09:01,610 --> 00:09:03,690
projects in the ground.

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00:09:04,120 --> 00:09:07,010
Other school districts
around the community,

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southwest Washington
are also.

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Second remark.

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Here's the duck.

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00:09:11,270 --> 00:09:14,030
Other communities are
stepping up to have

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outdoor classrooms

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00:09:15,049 --> 00:09:17,060
using Eagle
Scouts, et cetera.

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So we want kids
to get access

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everyday nature
over the seasons

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to generate their curiosity
and their wonder.

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Because this is the
next generation of us.

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And we've had lots of
success adding lots of

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canopy, diversity
of species,

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00:09:30,950 --> 00:09:32,600
equity of nature close

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to the urban area
where kids have

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every ability and level

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00:09:36,380 --> 00:09:39,305
can go to see nature
on a daily basis.

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Thank you so much.