This Giving Tuesday please consider joining the global movement and donate to Gateway to the Great Outdoors. On Tuesday, Nov 29, please donate, start a personal fundraiser, and share on social media!
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October Programming Highlights! |
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St. Louis Students Visit Braeutigam Orchards! |
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4th, 5th, and 6th graders from Nance Elementary School in St. Louis had an amazing time picking their own pumpkins, feeding goats, and more at their first field trip of the year! |
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Chicago Students Visit Sand Ridge Nature Center! |
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6th and 7th graders from John Fiske Elementary School in Chicago enjoyed bird watching, hiking, and learning about local flora and fauna on their visit to the Sand Ridge Nature Center! |
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GGO Students Build Tents! |
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GGO students in both Chicago (left) and St. Louis (right) learned how to build tents in classroom programming this month! The students were eager to get the tents set up and found that working together was the best way to build them! They had fun talking in the tents about where they might go camping and how prepared they would be!
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The In-Tents Science Fair St. Louis 2022! |
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On September 29, Gateway to the Great Outdoors kicked off the 2022 school year by hosting the “In-Tents” Science Fair in partnership with St. Louis Public Schools! GGO welcomed almost 400 SLPS students in grades pre-K-6 to participate in activities like:
- roasting s’mores using solar ovens the students constructed themselves
- examining cells under microscopes
- tie-dying
- investigating the flow of rivers with stream tables
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Thank you to our sponsors the Maxine Clark and Bob Fox Fund at St. Louis Community Foundation and the Kiwanis Club of Crestwood-Sunset Hills for underwriting this incredible day! GGO is looking forward to hosting an end-of-year science fair in Chicago in the spring!
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New Research Documenting GGO's Efficacy During the Pandemic |
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GGO is proud to share the peer-reviewed scientific study, “Green vs. Screen: Exploring the Outcomes of an In-Person and Virtual Nature-based Environmental Education Intervention for Low-Income Children.” This study was conducted by GGO’s community-academic partnership with Emory University Rollins School of Public Health and Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. The study, which was published in the journal Sustainability, compares GGO's in-person programming during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic with GGO’s online program that was occurring at the same time. The study found that both programs significantly improved student’s perceived nature contact and quality of life; however, the virtual program was not as effective as GGO’s traditional programming. We are excited and grateful to be fully back in the classroom during the 2022-2023 school year! Read the full article here: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/19/12600/htm
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Thank you so much to everyone who participated in Dining Out for GGO! With your support, we were able to raise over $2,500. Thank you to our participating restaurants, Chick’n Cone, Crazy Bowls & Wraps, Pasta House, St. Louis Bread Co., Seoul Taco, Raising Cane’s, D’agostino’s, Hopleaf, Jersey Mike’s, Lou Malnati’s, Nando’s, Native Foods Cafe, and Pizza Capri! All funds from the event will go directly towards purchasing state-of-the-art materials for GGO’s classroom lessons.
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Want to do More? Come Work with Us! |
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Gateway to the Great Outdoors is currently hiring for the following positions:
St. Louis:
This is an amazing opportunity to spend a year exploring the nonprofit world, especially for recent college grads!
“So much of what I learned in class was theoretical, so working with GGO is an amazing way to explore nonprofit work while exploring a new city and making new friends. This year is also an opportunity for me to hone my interests and apply to grad school. I couldn’t recommend a service year with GGO enough!”
-Sam, STL Grant Coordinator VISTA and graduate of the University of Michigan Class of 2022
You can apply and find out more by visiting the GGO website.
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Meet Gary Twu, our volunteer of the month! Gary is a senior at Washington University in St. Louis studying Genomics and Computational Biology. This is his third year as a GGO mentor. Gary’s favorite GGO memory is creating paint brushes out of nature elements. He says, “The overall experience to me would not only be enjoying the lessons and activities with the students, but also learning from them their inquiries, perspectives, and approaches towards nature, in turn reflecting on our own understandings and bettering ourselves as mentors.” His favorite outdoor activity is bird watching. Thank you so much for all your hard work, Gary! |
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Thank You for Your Support! |
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