Center for Education Imagination and the Natural World

Adult Programs. The Center hosts the Inner Life of the Child in Nature, an intensive two-year co-research for educators interested in nurturing the interior life of the child and young adult in relationship to the natural world. This includes programs for graduates of the Inner Life of the Child in Nature Program. Number of one-day sessions: 6; Total attendance: 55The Center also hosts Presence to Living Earth, an eco-contemplative experience of the cycle of the year through a series of seasonal retreats. Number of one-day sessions: 2; Total attendance: 26

Public Education and Outreach. The "Chrysalis" journal, published biannually, is a forum where thoughts on the relationship between the inner life of the child and the natural world are exchanged, as well as a vehicle for making Center programs visible to the general public. Approximately 300 copies of the journal were distributed in FY20. The Center also published 5 books related to the human-earth relationship inFY12, FY16 and FY18 which continued to be purchased through Amazon.com during FY20.

School & Group Programs - The Center hosts one-day programs (Awakening to Nature) for schools and/or groups of children, with the hope of bringing the inner lives of children into a new relationship with the beauty, wonder and intimacy of the natural world. Number of one-day sessions: 4; Total adult attendance: 15; Total child attendance: 67The Center also held day-long programs (Poetry of Nature) in which groups of children are led on earth sanctuary trails, hear poetry read at special sites, and ultimately are invited to write poems of their own, which they share with one another after lunch. Number of one-day sessions: 1; Total adult attendance: 1; Total child attendance: 20 The Center also held day long programs (Empathetic Listening) in which children engaged in a practice of deep listening to each other and to the natural world. The program begins with an introduction to empathetic listening, a way of listening that creates mutual understanding, trust and respect. During the second half of the program, the children are invited to listen deeply to the natural world during a solo writing time in their own special sit spot within a beautiful earth sanctuary. They are invited to become still, to deeply notice the place where they are sitting. Number of one-day sessions: 1; Total adult attendance: 6; Total child attendance: 24