about
who we are
we (angela & reid) started ochre outdoor learning (OOL) in 2022 and are dedicated to making outdoor education an accessible, liberating, and joyful experience for youth!
together, we have many years of outdoor teaching experience. our goal is to foster a safe and warm outdoor learning space for kids to connect with land, community, and themselves through play-based, place-based, student-led learning!
we believe in the inherent worth and power of young people and believe that they are sacred simply because they are alive.
a day at OOL
at OOL, we want students to take the lead in their own learning while being mindful of and responsive to their interests, strengths, and growth within the class community and beyond. we deeply value the opportunity to cultivate close relationships with our students and their families to best support and advocate for their needs and strengths.
believing in the power of both play-based and place-based learning and have witnessed the combination together as an amazing support in the social emotional growth of the kids.
catering our lessons and activities to student interests as well as what’s currently happening in nature and the world around. this could be anything from mycelium networks and the salmon life cycle to the changing of seasons.
continually practicing how to feel big feelings safely, to check in with our bodies to see what’s going on and what we need, and how to be in a community of peers (often for the first time ever!)
a typical day in our outdoor preschool involves:
* student-led play!
* hikes throughout the woods & beach!
* lessons from the land- seasons, plants animals, etc.!
* storytelling & books!
* dance parties, imaginative play, theater, sports, puppet play!
meet the teachers!
teacher angela (she/her)
hi I’m angela! I am so proud to be co-creating ochre outdoor learning and deeply grateful to be in my fourth year of teaching outdoor preschool at magical seahurst. I’m cantonese, from san diego, and am devoted to supporting the precious power and wisdom of young people. I've worked with youth in many spaces/ways over the years—through play, reading, math, art, movement—and outdoor learning holds a special place in my heart. I am honored to be alongside these dear students as they build relationship with nature, community, and themselves. as we meet this land and one another, we learn about connection & care, move through all the feels (big and small), and transform and grow alongside the always changing tides and seasons. my goal is to affirm and support the kids as they discover their own ways of being in the world and as they interact with the land and each other, full of curiosity, wonder, and presence. I want nothing more than to ensure the kids feel safe, seen, heard, and honored for the wonderful and powerful humans they are. I want them to know in their bones that they can show up just as they are and that they will always find space to simply exist and be held by this dear place and community.
teacher reid (he/him)
hey y’all! reid here, honored and excited to be a teacher/co-director with ochre outdoor learning! starting this school year with over 15 years of experience working with young people, and 7 years teaching preschool exclusively, I am grateful and delighted to spend my days outside with our students here on the land of the Duwamish and Coast Salish People- at what’s now called Seahurst Park. spending time here season after season, I've learned a great deal about the land, sea, and our community of folx in the park and beyond- and I feel so lucky to share in this learning with our young people each day. coming from Durham NC from a farming/experiential education background in the public school system, I am dedicated to being a vector of knowledge from the land to the youth. committed to anti-racist, non- biased, inclusive education and dismantling systems of oppression, OOL is one special way that I can continue to make space for everyone to be their most genuine self, feel safe and cared for, learn about themselves and others with respect, kindness and openness, notice the wonderful world around us- and the ripples of our impacts.