An Interview with Drew Dumsch, on Maine Outdoor Schools for All
Q: HOW DID MAINE OUTDOOR SCHOOLS FOR ALL COME TO LIFE?
A: Maine Outdoor Schools for All (MOSFA) is actually a rebranding of ELLMS (Environmental Living and Learning for Maine Students). Back in 2010, I reached out to the 4-H Centers and Chewonki, to see if they wanted to partner together and create a network to apply for scholarship funding. What brought the then ELLMS partners together is that we all have a high-quality immersive living and learning curriculum that focuses on sustainability and ecology.
Q: HOW HAS MAINE OUTDOOR SCHOOL FOR ALL CHANGED OVER THE YEARS?
A: Over the last 14 years, Maine Outdoor School for All has continued to expand, adding Schoodic Institute at Acadia National Park to our network. We’ve all worked together on curriculum, workshops, evaluations, best practices, teacher training, and more. We’ve also grown to be incredible friends and colleagues.
Q: WHAT IS BEING DONE IN THE MAINE LEGISLATURE RIGHT NOW, IN REGARD TO MOSFA?
A: Right now, Maine Outdoor School for All has been working and advocating on a bill called, Outdoor School for All Maine Students (LD 1817), aiming to provide immersive outdoor education experiences for students in grades 4 through 8 in schools across Maine. This bill is written for $6.2 Million annually for the next 3 years and would be instrumental in providing outdoor school experiences to more Maine Middle School Students
Q: WHAT OBSTACLES ARE YOU FACING?
A: While money and funding are the biggest obstacles as we work to support students attending immersive overnight programming, if this bill (LD 1817 - Outdoor School for All Maine Students) is passed 14,000 kids per grade in Maine can participate in this program and funding will support Outdoor Schools.
Q: WHAT ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF MOSFA’S MISSION?
A: The most important aspect of this mission is equity, and making sure every student has access to an outdoor school like The Ecology School, or Chewonki, Schoodic Institute, and the 4H Centers and have a life-changing, deeply immersive experience, so adding more members would help us reach that goal. Currently, less than a quarter of Maine students can attend outdoor school programs, with rural and lower-income districts facing particular challenges in accessing these experiences. There are currently fewer than a quarter of Maine students who can participate in outdoor school programs, and rural and lower-income districts have particular difficulty providing access to these programs.
Q: HOW DOES THE ECOLOGY SCHOOL WORK WITH MOSFA?
A: The Ecology School collaborates with Maine Outdoor School for All as a committed partner in this network. MOSFA is funded ⅓ by grants, ⅓ by schools and the last ⅓ is from each organization. The Ecology School shares the same goal and mission, to get as many kids outside and fully immersed in nature, in their own backyard as possible. The long-term goal of MOSFA is to make overnight environmental education accessible to students from all socioeconomic backgrounds in Maine by establishing a financial aid fund for public upper-elementary and middle schools to attend programs at one of the four MOSFA partner sites.
Q: WHERE IS MOST OF THE FOCUS IN MOSFA RIGHT NOW?
A: Right now we are putting most of our time and focus into this new legislation, LD 1817: An Act to Support Outdoor Education by Establishing the Outdoor School for All Maine Students Program, which has officially been introduced in the Maine legislature. Through this bill, students in Maine's grades 4 through 8 will have the opportunity to participate in immersive outdoor education experiences. So right now, we are calling for more advocacy from everyone we can! You can learn more from the MOSFA Info Sheet here.
Q: HOW DO STUDENTS BENEFIT FROM OUTDOOR SCHOOL PROGRAMMING?
A: What's great about an outdoor school program is how it is a living and learning experience. I think the challenge with education now is that we live at home and we learn at school. Here (at The Ecology School), we are able to blur those boundaries. The living and learning experience can happen in our dining commons during a meal, reflection time in the dorms, or watching a sunset with peers. When we have students for longer than just a day trip, we are able to see a real difference and provide a fully immersive learning experience. Having students overnight and taking meals together is a huge focus of outdoor schools. Aside from core areas of science curriculum, immersive programming integrates food systems education, social & emotional learning, climate change education and forming natural connections.
When people ask me “What do you focus on? I say: all of it!” We can do it all, and we do it in fun ways like games and narrative education, skits, and costumes, and we can do all of this because it's a multi-day experience. The lessons totally interrelate.
Q: WHY IS THIS SO IMPORTANT TO YOU?
A: MOSFA work is by far one of the most rewarding and important things that I am involved with. I think it is because The Ecology School is so deeply collaborative, it's part of our DNA, it's what we do, and how we move the work forward. This work is so important and we can’t do it alone. It is a growth model. People ask: “Aren't Chewonki and 4-H Center your competitors?” Really we are doing the same thing, but if we want to reach our true goal of getting every kid outdoors, then it's a growth model. Collaboration is so important if we want to reach our goal collectively.
Q: HOW IS MOSFA BENEFICIAL TO STUDENTS IN THE LONG RUN?
A: If you give kids this kind of mid-point right of passage, if every kid goes to outdoor school, that's a common denominator. They learn skills beyond the typical classroom, skills that hold high value and lasting memories. We are so deeply connected to Maine's natural resources and outdoors, it's part of how we live and reflect our learning. People play and work outside and to introduce this at an age where kids are transitioning to young adults going into high school, it’s the perfect time to give them that outdoor school experience that they can carry into adulthood.
Drew Dumsch, President and CEO of The Ecology School
