Teacher Training Institute
Interested in Teacher Outreach programs? Request Info
Bring environmental education into any classroom.
Wolf Ridge provides a variety of teacher outreach programs designed to help teachers incorporate outdoor learning with their students. Teachers will be learning through doing and will learn outdoor content knowledge, pedagogical skills, and simple but effective ways to get students engaged in the natural world. The goal is for teachers to go back to their classrooms and immediately have new topics or skills to implement.
Workshop Options
- Weekend workshop retreat at Wolf Ridge for districts/schools (year round)
- Winter weekend workshop retreat at Wolf Ridge for individual teachers
- Summer workshop retreat at Wolf ridge for individual teachers
- On-site workshop with a Wolf Ridge naturalist at your school (half day or full day)
- Workshop follow up site visits and learning
Continuing Education Credits
- Earn continuing education credits for license renewal by attending a Wolf Ridge workshop
Winter Teacher Training Workshop - Weekend
Interested in collaboration with teachers from other districts? Wolf Ridge hosts weekends for individual teachers or groups to sign up to come take part in a weekend of professional development and to network with other teachers across the region that are working towards being a leader of outdoor learning in their school.
Spring Teacher Training Workshop - Single Day
Bring yourself or a group of teachers up from your district or school to participate in a 1 day workshop related to outdoor learning.
Summer Teacher Training Workshop - Full Week
Interested in collaboration with teachers from other districts? Wolf Ridge hosts a full week in summer for individual teachers or groups to sign up to come take part in a week of professional development and to network with other teachers across the region that are working towards being a leader of outdoor learning in their school.
Program Pricing
- Onsite workshops at your school start at $500 for half day and $1,000 for full day.
- Workshop retreats at Wolf Ridge start at $400 per participant. The cost includes programming, lodging and meals. A 15% deposit is required when registering.
- Participants are welcome to bring additional family members to workshop retreats at Wolf Ridge. The price is an additional $200 for a private room and $50 per additional person for meals and activities and is paid for separately by the teacher.
Sample Workshop Topics and Themes
- Basics of outdoor learning – how to get started
- Naturalist Practices – practices to help our students explore the natural world
- Nature Journaling – from starting out to new ideas
- Outdoor Pedagogy – engage as a student in an outdoor class and reflect on pedagogy techniques
- Phenology – what it is and how to incorporate it all year long
- Outdoor investigations – basics of conducting an investigation and collecting and interpreting data
- Improv and Community Building – learn improv skills and team games
- Citizen Science – learn about ways your students can engage with citizen science projects
Don’t see what you are looking for? Contact scheduling@wolf-ridge.org to co-create the program that best meets your needs.
Absolutely! We work with groups to help organize experiences for families. The program contact or individual teacher will work with our Program Coordinator to discuss planning for families.
We offer seasonally choice-driven dishes served cafeteria-style, including whenever possible, food freshly harvested at the Wolf Ridge Organic Farm. Daily options include choices that are gluten-free, dairy-free, and meat or meatless, along with a salad and veggie bar. Fresh fruit, veggies, coffee, and tea are available to everyone all day.
The Wolf Ridge kitchen and dining halls are peanut and tree nut-free. If you have a special dietary need, please let your program contact know.
Lodging will be in the award-winning Margaret A. Cargill (MAC) Lodge on the Wolf Ridge campus.
Rooms for individuals include private sleeping spaces with a bath/shower area shared by one other person. Families will have private rooms and private bathrooms. The MAC Lodge includes five gathering spaces for groups furnished with comfortable seating areas, workspaces, and kitchenettes.
Typically, there is a weekend workshop retreat in the winter and a multi-weekday workshop retreat in June. Contact scheduling@wolf-ridge.org to inquire about dates.
Of course! We design our workshops to fit the needs of your school. Contact scheduling@wolf-ridge.org to discuss workshop themes and topics.
“This weekend (workshop) will bring me energy back into my teaching”
~K-5 Teacher, Oakridge Elementary
“I couldn’t imagine a more powerful PD experience”
~K-5 teacher, Cedar Park STEM School
About Wolf Ridge
Established in 1971, Wolf Ridge was the first residential environmental learning center in the nation to be accredited as a K-12 school. Today, we welcome 13,000 visitors annually to our 2,000-acre campus for year-round programming. Over the last 50 years, our immersive graduate naturalist program has trained over 1,000 naturalists. Many have gone on to work around the world as educators in K-12 schools, state and national parks, nature centers, and universities.
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