Who We Are and What We Do!

Explore New Horizons engages school groups in overnight outdoor education programs that strengthen school communities while accelerating environmental and emotional literacy. GreenSkillsLab is a multi-year nonprofit organization that works with over 100 schools each year and has served over 100,000+ students throughout our history. Each year, over 7,000 students participate in our 3-5 day programs.

GreenSkillsLab takes a whole person approach to education, focusing on social emotional learning, environmental literacy, wellness, and the arts. Naturalists lead hiking groups in unplugged, place-based programs that focus on adaptability, cyclicality, diversity, interdependence, and more, creating positive connections between learning and the outdoors while sparking students’ interest in science and environmental stewardship. Students also participate in collaborative team-building activities in a positive and inclusive environment, solidifying relationships with classroom teachers and classmates. Our programs also focus on conservation, with students weighing and charting food waste after each meal, composting food scraps in the garden, attempting a 3-minute shower, and participating in a mock town hall meeting. Learning is reinforced through reflective nature journaling, art, participatory group songs, dance, puppet shows, and skits where groups take to the stage to act out the concepts they learned during the week. A week away from home and the classroom, enjoying the joy of learning about nature and working in teams outdoors improves individual, community, and environmental well-being.

GreenSkillsLab also has over 500 high school students volunteer as Cabin Leaders each year, setting an example for their Cabin Group while earning valuable leadership and communication skills, community service credits, and letters of recommendation for college or job applications. Cabin Leaders also spend an hour each day participating in a Professional Learning Community facilitated by our staff to overcome challenges and share successes from the day.

Our curriculum aligns with the Next Generation Science Standards and the five core social and emotional learning competencies (self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, responsible decision making).

Land Acknowledgement

GreenSkillsLab conducts our projects on the indigenous lands of the Amah Mutsun Tribe. The modern tribe is historically comprised of more than 20 politically distinct nations representing the surviving descendant families of the indigenous peoples who survived the Santa Cruz and San Juan Bautista missions. The Amah Mutsun Land Trust (AMLT) is the vehicle for the Amah Mutsun to acquire, protect, and manage lands that are central to their identity and culture.

Equity and Inclusion Goals

Equity and inclusion are core to GreenSkillsLab’s mission to empower students, foster environmental literacy, and strengthen school communities through outdoor education.

GreenSkillsLab currently engages 7,000 students annually in 3-5 day residential outdoor education programs. Approximately 34% of our participating schools are low-income schools (defined as schools where more than 40% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch).

Our primary equity goals are to engage more low-income schools in outdoor education each year and to serve more Black and Latino students. We accomplish this by providing discounts to low-income schools and seeking grants and individual donations.

GreenSkillsLab is also committed to fostering an inclusive environment among our staff and in all outdoor education programs so that people of all races, gender identities, ages, sexual orientations, abilities, nationalities, and religions feel safe and welcome to express themselves fully and freely when participating in our programs. GreenSkillsLab encourages our staff to participate in professional development in equity, inclusion, culturally responsive pedagogy, and implicit bias, with a focus on race and gender.

The GreenSkillsLab Board of Directors also has an Equity Committee that is charged with defining and leading ongoing initiatives across all sites to better provide environmental education to underserved communities and to meet the needs of those communities before, during, and after the experience.

GreenSkillsLab will continue to refine and deepen our equity and inclusion goals to ensure that all students can participate in outdoor education in the years ahead.

Our Mission and curriculum focuses on:

Environmental Literacy

Experienced naturalists deepen students’ ecological knowledge and interest in science and environmental stewardship through nature understanding and appreciation. Naturalists focus on Next Generation Science Standards and 4 basic ecological concepts: Adaptations, Cycles, Energy, and Interdependence. Learnings are reinforced through reflective nature journaling; drawing or nature art; participatory group songs, dances, and puppet shows, and skits where cabin groups act out a concept they have learned during the week.

Empowerment & Team Building

School groups engage in cooperative team building activities, including family style dining and developing solutions to environmental problems, and will experience the benefits of supportive cabin and trail group teams. Students will be called upon to contribute creative ideas to team endeavors and will be empowered as valuable parts of their team. A week out of the classroom in a new and emotionally-safe space builds students’ self-confidence, empowering students to disrupt their classroom identities, behavior patterns, and solidify relationships with teachers and peers.

Environmental Stewardship

Students learn about local, regional and global environmental problems and potential solutions, including simple adjustments to lifestyle (composting, solar energy and recycling). Students will learn about individuals who have been successful in solving environmental problems and role-play environmental dilemmas in a town hall meeting. Students will connect their learnings at the outdoor school and in nature to their own home and school communities. Finally, students will be given the opportunity to graduate from outdoor school!