‘Celebrate diversity’ – This familiar phrase invites us to find joy in our uniqueness, inspiring many a workshop, T-shirt, poster, and bumper sticker. But there’s one thing diversity isn’t: a solution to educational inequities. That takes structural...
Thank you to Jennifer Seydel of Green Schools National Network for this heartfelt leadership piece:All of us are grappling with a number of feelings right now, chief among them uncertainty about the upcoming school year. Many if not all of you have already decided how...
What is Tremont Institute? “I wish school could be like this all the time.” – student quote This quote, more than any data, outcomes, or metrics, captures the essence of what we hope for students and teachers who participate in our school programs at Great Smoky...
If student achievement and staff performance are major aims, indoor environmental quality is an elephant in the room. Consider this. We have invested in intense planning. Our learning goals have been aligned with the growing needs of society in a fast-changing world....
International focus on resilience is surging as evidence mounts for a world endangered by climate change, armed conflict and terrorism, unprecedented flows of refugees, pandemics, educational and health disparities, and economic volatility. In addition, concern is...
When talking about teaching environmental and sustainability literacy in schools, we mostly mean educating students to be environmentally responsible. But there is a bigger, deeper meaning here. In order for our future generations to be fluent in environmental and...
The Green Schools National Network (GSNN) has been doing tremendous work since 2007 in furthering the Green Schools movement. They have created a broad and energetic network of PreK-12 teachers, leaders, and professionals who learn from each other with the common goal...
GSNN Board Welcomes Two Noted Green Schools Advocates To Help Advance its Mission and Message A leading advocate for natural play environments for children and the head of an award-winning center for environmental education recently joined the Green Schools National...
Green Schools National Network (GSNN) are holding a webinar designed for PreK-12 educators. This interactive, 60-minute webinar highlights “best of the best” resources and curriculum that GSNN and its collaborators have curated for virtual and at-home learning.April...
Alongside connecting with passionate folks within the green schools movement a couple of weeks ago at the Green Schools Conference, we were also introduced to the Green Schools National Network’s (GSNN) brand new look and extended mission. Both intended to drive...
This is the first part in a series from Green Schools National Network (GSNN) that features GSNN partners describing best practices and lessons learned, on topics tied to each of the impact systems in the GreenPrint, starting with Leadership. The GSNN GreenPrint™...
This is the second part in a series from Green Schools National Network (GSNN) that features GSNN partners describing best practices and lessons learned, on topics tied to each of the impact systems in the GreenPrint, starting with Leadership. The GSNN GreenPrint™...
People kept asking me, “How do you make time for self-care?” After getting asked enough times, I wanted to go deeper and study more about creating a Culture of Care + Connection for myself and the people in my life. This idea of Culture of Care + Connection is ever...
This beautifully uplifting and inspiring book was published near the end of 2021, just when educators really needed to hear that the work they do matters, really matters. Because of a Teacher is a collection of personal stories, brought together to “offer hope...
For our present and future customers who are thinking about how to clean their learning environments to protect against the Coronavirus, here are our easy to implement guidelines to cleaning your Natural Pod furniture.Cleaning: To clean our products, dampen a soft...
Fortunately, sustainability in education has grown a huge amount in the last few years. Whether that’s creating more energy-efficient schools, providing cleaner air, or increasing environmental education. But there’s a long way to go. There is still a...
The story begins with a Canadian brand – Natural Pod – a company that believes in creating beautifully designed, durable, sustainable products for students and educators to use in learning spaces. Natural Pod’s new Better Together partnership collection has led them...
Natural Pod™ Play lofts were designed very much with the needs of early learners in mind. The intention was to create spaces that were all their own, where their imaginations could transform the space into any environment they wished, whether a fort, a castle, an...
The Natural Pod team has recently been gathering together online with the intention of reflecting on this past year. (We are an almost fully remote team so that’s our normal regardless of the current state of the world). We’ve also been looking ahead to...
Although it’s been a challenging year in multiple ways, the Natural Pod team has been constantly uplifted by the inspiring work and perseverance of our community. Earlier this year to amplify the voices of those committed to creating better learning...