RENO, Nev. — December 21, 2018 — Sierra Nevada Journeys was selected by NatureBridge as one of 10 organizations that will work collaboratively to develop systems that will effectively incorporate Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) frameworks, research, and preferred practices into residential environmental education programming.
More than 65 organizations expressed interest from across the U.S. and Canada but only 10 were chosen based on our geographic reach, organizational capacity, diversity of participants served and unique perspectives on SEL.
The Residential Environmental Education Partnership (REEP) convened on October 1, 2018, in San Francisco, California and tackled four key areas:
Understanding of the participating organizations’ SEL competencies.
Seeking SEL commonalities in similar residential school programs shared by the REEP participants.
Mapping program outcomes and associated practices.
Establishing a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.
The Partnership is scheduled to meet again in January 2019, to continue its work on building SEL frameworks. “We’re thrilled to be involved at the ground level of this initiative. Since the beginning, Social Emotional Learning principles have been integral to what we do at Sierra Nevada Journeys, but only recently have we been identifying and building SEL practices more intentionally in the work we do. This partnership is a fantastic way for leaders in our industry to work collaboratively on creating common language, measurement tools and an overarching framework for what SEL does and should look like in outdoor education. It’s exciting work, and we are so thankful to NatureBridge for recognizing our organization as a leader in the outdoor education industry, and including Sierra Nevada Journeys on this groundbreaking project.” Said Sean Hill, Education Director, Sierra Nevada Journeys.
NatureBridge is the largest residential education partner of the National Park Service offering programming in six national parks. Thank you to the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation for funding this collaborative effort among leading outdoor environmental education organizations.