Solar Schoolhouse, a program of The Rahus Institute, has worked with the Outdoor Education community since 2003. Thanks to grant funding from All Points North Foundation we’re able to update and re-energize solar energy lessons specifically for the outdoor education environment. We’ll be able to share new narratives/stories exploring human history of using the sun’s energy to heat, cool, and power our homes for 1000s of years and using nature-inspired design (biomicry) to lead low environmental impact lives. We’ll also provide several interactive and fun teaching tools for each participating outdoor education site including: Solar Cell Classroom Set, Solar Fountain Sculpture Sets, Solar Spinart sets, and more. The Project runs from May 2024 to May 2025.
News from the field….
[Westminster Woods Blog Post- by Lillian Karl] On a sunny morning in mid-August, our Outdoor Education staff gathered on the Big Green Field, engaged in a hands-on imaginative activity to utilize the power of the sun in order to access water. Tor and Dena Allen from the Solar Schoolhouse Project asked staff to imagine they were in a remote location without any clean water. If they only had a solar panel, a pump, and a deep well of water, what would they do? A few minutes and several splashed naturalists later, they had four working water pumps. But why were our naturalists doing this?
This lesson is part of a year-long partnership with the Solar Schoolhouse Project to bring solar education to outdoor schools. [READ MORE….]
Naturalists & Team Leads: Pilot the SSHOE activities & provide feedback. [ January 2025: survey currently closed]
Participating Schools (2024-2025 Pilot program)
Westminster Woods (Occidental, CA)
Pathfinder Ranch (Mountain Center, CA)
Web of Life Field (WOLF) School – (Camp Arroyo) Livermore, (Camp Toyon) Aptos, (Camp Loma Mar) Loma Mar – CA (3 sites)
Naturebridge Golden Gate – Sausalito, CA
San Mateo COE Outdoor Education (Camp Jones Gulch) – Loma Mar, CA
YMCA Camp Surf (Imperial Beach/San Diego)
Camp Cuyamaca (San Diego COE Outdoor Education) – Descanso, CA
Walden West (Santa Clara COE Outdoor Education) – Saratoga, CA
Sly Park Environmental Education Center (Sacramento COE) – Pollock Pines, CA
Camp Ocean Pines Cambria CA
Contact: Tor Allen – 707-829.3154 or tor@rahus.org