Earthroots Field School Inc   

Earthroots Field School founder, Jodi Levine, grew up in a very different Orange County than children know today. Raised in San Clemente, she fell in love with the swampy trails behind her home where she and her brother walked down the hill after school each day to catch tadpoles, build tree forts and follow the animal tracks to their dens. It was a place to have unlimited adventures, grow strong, feel the freedom of nature and build trust with her brother. Jodi was devastated when bulldozers came to develop her cherished wild place into a heavily landscaped golf course, and the animals she had come to love were displaced and never returned. It was from this profound connection with nature in her formative years, coupled with unique travels and experiences in her young adulthood, that eventually led her to back to Orange County with a desire to ensure children and adults would have opportunities to deeply connect with the earth. With this passion, Jodi founded Earthroots Field School in 2005. Since 1980, much of Orange County’s wild, open, natural space has been developed into roads, manicured golf courses, parking lots and shopping centers, leaving a mere 15% of park land. This has created a disconnect between people and the natural world, felt more strongly by today’s youth than any other time in human history. Richard Louv and researcher Cheryl Charles, Ph.D. of the Children and Nature Network, note that this “nature deficit” affects children in profound ways. Low levels of outdoor activity and a sedentary lifestyle are common and may be related to the dramatic rise in childhood obesity, vitamin D deficiency and other health issues. Additionally, studies indicate that a connection with the outdoors supports social, intellectual, emotional, spiritual and physical development, supports creativity and problem-solving skills, enhances concentration and lessens attention deficit disorder behaviors. Once an adult grows up without a connection to nature, they lose the ability to pass critical developmental knowledge onto their children. Earthroots recognizes the natural environment as a fundamental, effective, and holistic setting for learning. Drawing on the philosophies of traditional native wisdom, cultural knowledge, peacemaker principles, and community building practices, we believe that an education rooted in nature prepares young people to be engaged, thoughtful stewards of the environment, and consequently, productive citizens of society.