“You have to be courageous to be creative,” she said. “You have to be willing to put yourself out there and to show the world something and to share your light. So that takes courage. And I think nature school builds that kind of courage, both physically and emotionally.”
A need for more equity in nature-based learning
Students and teachers at nature-based preschools across the country are disproportionately white, according to a 2022 survey by the Natural Start Alliance, a coalition of environmental education organizations.
“I think it’s also true that nature-based opportunities, particularly in schools, are more prevalent in more well-to-do communities, where they may have some great natural resources around them,” Jordan said.
It’s not just exposure to nature in school that’s unequal. An analysis by the Hispanic Access Foundation and the Center for American Progress found that across the country, people of color are much more likely than white people to live in “nature-deprived” spaces, or places where more natural land has been disturbed by human activities than what is typical for each state.
Wells started Tiny Trekkers as a way to bring Black and Hispanic families into Philadelphia’s natural spaces, where, she said, they are not typically seen.
Tiny Trekkers during a recent nature scavenger hunt at the trails behind the Cobbs Creek Community Environmental Education Center. (Courtesy of Elaine Wells)
“Things like kayaking, bird watching, fishing, horseback riding, trail walking,” Wells said. “Just outdoors-y things where either there’s a perceived notion that we’re not welcome in those spaces when they are available, or sometimes cost is a barrier and sometimes just being busy — families being busy surviving.”
Bartram’s Garden, the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum and the Cobbs Creek Community Environmental Education Center — which Wells calls “some of Philly’s most amazing green spaces” — are located in majority-Black neighborhoods of West and Southwest Philadelphia. Tiny Trekkers visits these sites regularly and travels to green spaces in other parts of the city when donated buses are available, Wells said.
Many schools in Philadelphia work to expose students to nature. The School District of Philadelphia offers students outdoor adventure experiences through a partnership with Outward Bound. Some schools have gardens, hands-on agriculture programs and nature clubs. Others are redesigning and greening asphalt schoolyards. The district encourages schools to plan field trips and extracurricular activities in nature-based environments, said spokesperson Christina Clark.
But overall, students don’t have enough access to nature, Wells said.