I had the honor of working at a nature center for nearly a decade coaching teachers to use nature as a vehicle to teach science through authentic and place-based experiences. I am now a nature preschool teacher by day and content creator by night sharing my love of science and ELA with other educators. Let's make science a priority in your classroom by making it more approachable, digestible, and enjoyable!

Outdoor Education

Podcast

Outdoor Education Job: How Mariah Waters Created Her Own Opportunity [Ep. 85]

Ep. 85: Outdoor Education Job: How Mariah Waters Created Her Own Opportunity

Outdoor education job highlight

I am so excited to be able to offer you a guest interview about advocating for and securing an outdoor education job! Mariah Waters spent the 25′-26′ school year piloting a nature special for a private independent school in Texas after developing and pitching the idea to school leadership on her own! She loves to help children grow in their relationship with nature, their connection with community, and comfort in the outdoors and this self-made role helped her do just that.

In this episode, she talks about the process she took to make this outdoor education job a reality, how she survived (and even thrived) planning day-to-day, and more. Make sure to hit play to hear about:

Her background
A description of her role for the 25′-26′ school year
Steps she took to propose the role to the school
How she approached writing a year’s worth of curriculum for K-5 classes while teaching everyday
A description of the outdoor space she was using
Her favorite lesson from the year
Her biggest take-away from the year
Advice she would have given herself if she could go back to the beginning of the year
Advice she’d offer anyone looking to do something similar

An outdoor education job can be found anywhere, even in the bayou. — Mariah Waters saw an opportunity to help children through an outdoor education job that didn’t yet exist.

Meet Mariah Waters

Mariah Waters is a Houston-based environmental educator who has spent nearly the past decade helping children build deeper relationships with the natural world through hands-on, place-based learning experiences. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology from Texas A&M University at Galveston and a Master of Education in Nature-Based Early Childhood Education from Antioch University New England. As an educator, she is especially drawn to the ways curiosity, play, sensory exploration, storytelling, and seasonal change can help children feel more connected to both nature and themselves. Outside of teaching, Mariah enjoys swimming, reading, exploring coastal habitats, and taking walks with her husband and dog, Orca.

Connect with Mariah: www.linkedin.com/in/mariah-waters