Whole Earth Nature School

OUR MISSION: Mentoring students outdoors to foster confidence, resilience, and kinship with nature.

Whole Earth Nature School is a 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2009 to foster human-nature connections. We provide mentored outdoor experiences to students in pre-K through high school on the traditional homelands of the Kalapuya people, in Eugene/Springfield. Whole Earth serves thousands of students annually at summer camps, Outdoor School, homeschool and afterschool programs, and advanced mentorship experiences.

At Whole Earth, we learn from the land, share gratitude, practice outdoor skills, tell stories, challenge our edges, honor our whole selves, and lift up our community. Our programs center children as leaders of their learning to cultivate curiosity and deepen their connection to self, community, and the land. Through camouflage, they learn stillness and observation. Through fire-making, they learn resilience and patience. Through wildcrafting, they learn caretending and healing. Through group challenges, they learn teamwork and empathy. 

Whole Earth is an equal-opportunity employer. We welcome the unique contributions that you bring to Whole Earth including your culture, ethnicity, race, gender identity and expression, nation of origin, age, languages, veteran status, religion, ability, sexual orientation, and beliefs. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an equitable and inclusive environment for all students, volunteers, and employees. Visit our about and employment pages to learn more. Some ways we commit to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion include:

• normalizing pronoun use during meetings and programs
• providing needs-based scholarships to students
• offering affinity camps for girls, boys, and gender-diverse students
• providing justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion training to all staff
• decolonizing curriculum and incorporating land acknowledgments in programs 
• amplifying Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) voices and perspectives
• using trauma-informed, culturally responsive student support strategies
• providing accommodations for students to participate in our programs and for staff to lead programs