www. NEXT. cc, Inc.

Does STEAM by a design-based approach to teaching complex energy systems result in greater student comprehension and extended engagement with conserving energy and using renewable energy sources than traditional instructional methods?

Greening imagination is a systemic process that needs to be nurtured in classes and communities. The best hope for learning to live in more sustainable ways lies in new ways of learning about human ecology and the environment across the curriculum. Experience of the natural world; learning how nature sustains life; nurturing healthy communities; recognizing implications of the ways we feed and provide for ourselves; and knowing well the places where we live, work, learn and play are essential to becoming eco literate. Teachers are in a prime position to connect culture of place with sense of purpose in the work of their students. NEXT.cc introduces journeys, transdisciplinary activities and measures to green existing school curriculum, campuses and communities. NEXT.cc supports teachers and students with age-appropriate learning opportunities based on State and Federal Learning Standards including the National Research Council National Science Education Standards, North American Association for Environmental Education Guidelines for Excellence, Common Core State Standards and Federal programs such as No Child Left Behind and No Child Left Inside.

Green Imagination Workshops embed systems thinking in scales of investigation. Participants learn directed, supportive and collaborative inquiry based design strategies for working with diverse audiences. Participants mix physical and digital exploration of the the wonder and workings of the built and natural worlds while creating place based projects.
Green Imagination Workshops are held at diverse institutions of learning- schools, museums, libraries, museums and centers.

Our relationship with nature and the big outdoors has changed radically in the last one hundred years. Even more pertinent to the change from the walk to school is bussing. Almost 50% of the K12 population is now bussed to school. Imagine going from the interior of a home to the interior of a bus to the interior of a school with only thirty minutes to eat lunch, socialize and run on an asphalt play yard before returning to school, bus and home. Recess is understood as a place to ‘let off steam’ before returning to learning in a desk in a classroom. In addition, a recent NPR program stated that middle school children spend an average of only 15 minutes a week in unstructured outdoor activity.

Schools in the United States for the most part, provide nature deprived school campuses and curriculum. Most school campuses consist of buildings placed on grass lawns stripped of any native vegetation. Asphalt parking lots and playgrounds with recreational sport fields complete most campuses. Gone are any signs of the prairies or wetlands or forests that existed before the school was established. This school layout is typical across the United States. Richard Louv, author of Last Child Left in the Woods: Nature Deficit Disorder and The Nature Principle starts his books with the quote from a 4 year old, “ Mommy I’d rather play inside where there are more electrical outlets.”

Outdoor environments provide a critical opportunity to address contemporary challenges.
childhood obesity
preoccupation with electronic media
restriction from open-ended outdoor “free” play time
disconnection from nature

The Green School Yard Workshop is a collaboration between garden educators and architects to raise awareness, understanding and application of learning opportunities outside. Outdoor environments provide a critical opportunity to connect with National Environmental Education Standards and ‘leave no child inside’.
experience of living systems
exploration of interdependency
full sensory learning
fresh air
movement
engagement with place
wonder

The Green School Yard Project shares research and best practices from environmentally and place based project learning schools that connect young imaginations on a daily basis with the big outdoors. The Green School Yard Project offers professional development for school boards and teachers in connecting curriculum to outdoor activities. Research has shown that teachers that are actively engaged in choosing curriculum to take place outside or more likely to continue to teach outside on a regular basis. The Green School Yard Project shares research from Sharon Danks, author of Asphalt to Eco Systems; Eric Nelson, Cultivating Outdoor Classrooms, The Outdoor Classroom Project; Sharon G. Solomon, American Playgrounds, Cultivating Community Space; and Roy Diblik, Small Perennial Gardens, Know Maintenance Approach; Richard Louv, The Nature Principle; and Linda Keane, co-founder and director of NEXT.cc, an environmental stewardship place based project curriculum. It offers collaboration between K12 educators, garden educators, environmental designers, landscape architects and architects to raise awareness, understanding and application of learning opportunities outside. The Green School Yard Project initiated a series of national webinars to transform school design with outdoor learning in outdoor places on school grounds.

The Green School Yard Project offers design of + outdoor environments + teacher education and activities + children education and activities + free access to place based project learning. Professional development for teachers introduces changes in 21st century learning, opportunities for engaging diverse learner types, and place based project learning that can move teacher directed teaching to teacher facilitated and student led inquiry.

The Green School Yard Project empowers schools to create outdoor classrooms with multiple activity areas and works with teachers to deliver curriculum outdoors.

NEXT.cc, in its 15th year, received a National Science Foundation Grant for Entrepreneurialism. As part of the grant, Board members interviewed over 50 architecture and design firms for their Diversity Equity, and Inclusion policy, and for their Environmental Sustainability Governance. NEXT.cc's research shared a wide variety of donation efforts, internship and diversity scholarship programs, and some volunteer activism. Only about 25% had policies in place; the rest were in process. All AIA firms are working to reach carbon neutrality by 2040. Next is the lack of architecture and design education for youth in K12. Less than 1% of K12 schools offer architecture classes, and only 4 states have Art AND Design Standards. leaving 2/3 of the population who do not attend college without access to built environment education. The third challenge is the lack of outdoor education with most playgrounds being denatured asphalt. NEXT.cc introduces Nature and the Built Environment together.

NEXT.cc delivers Teacher Toolkits for introducing Nature and the Built Environment across K12 Traditional Subjects through place-based project learning connected with creative careers. NEXT.cc has experience working with Science, Technology, Engineering, Environmental, Art, Design, and Math iinstructors. Toolkits include free access to the NEXT.cc E Learning Journeys, with standards aligned activities, and assessment and evaluation.

NEXT.cc offers Curriculum Consulting to middle and high schools that desire to expand maker spaces across the school campus and across traditional topics. Consulting involves introducing TOOLS<, LANGUAGE< DISCOVER, and DESIGN Journeys with trans-disciplinary activities linked to creative careers. University professors work with elementary, middle, and high school teachers to develop place-based projects that are meaningful to the school community.