2026-2027
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Kari Wilcher, Outdoor Educator: kwilcher@bryan.k12.ga.us
25-26 Georgia Department of Natural Resources Conservation Teacher of the Year
25-26 Environmental Education Alliance (EEA) of Georgia Formal K-12 Environmental Educator of the Year
At Carver Elementary, we cultivate curiosity, connection, and care for the natural world by engaging every 4th and 5th grader in student-centered, place-based Outdoor Education. Rooted in the diverse coastal ecosystems of Bryan County, our program empowers students to ask questions, explore local phenomena, and conduct authentic research that supports the health of the Ogeechee River Basin. Through hands-on field investigations, unstructured nature play, and community science, students develop scientific habits of mind, social-emotional resilience, and a lifelong sense of environmental stewardship. Our goal is to cultivate nurturing connections to nature by inviting every child to explore, wonder, and learn alongside local ecosystems while guiding them to become thoughtful stewards, critical thinkers, and changemakers devoted to stewardship of themselves, their community, and the environment.
Our Outdoor Education program is grounded in
Student-Led, Experiential, Phenomena-Based, Place-Based, Project-Based, and Problem-Based Pedagogy.
"If students are to understand how professional scientists function in their workplaces, they must have the opportunity for hands-on experience in the forests, wetlands, coastal regions, and watersheds in which scientists conduct research." -AFWA, The North American Conservation Education Strategy: State Science Standards and K-12 Field Science Practice
Our Outdoor Education program meets and exceeds best practices.
The Seeds of Stewardship project centers on two primary goals: connecting children to nature and increasing biodiversity on campus through student-led habitat restoration. Every 4th and 5th grader at Dr. G.W. Carver Elementary in Richmond Hill, Georgia participates in authentic, hands-on fieldwork as part of the school’s Outdoor Education program, which serves more than 675 students each week across 50 acres of wetland, bioswale, and forest habitats within the Ogeechee River Basin.
Seeds of Stewardship is our leading 2025-26 National Wildlife Federation Eco-Schools Action project.
Seeds of Stewardship is supported by the Department of Natural Resources Conservation Teacher of the Year Grant, TERN - Friends of Georgia's Nongame Wildlife, the Georgia GOLD Grant, the Garden Club of Richmond Hill with inkind donations from the Xerces Society, Coastal Wildscapes, the University of Georgia, and the Georgia Native Plant Society.
26-27 AREAS OF FOCUS AND ACTION PROJECTS
Our overarching essential questions and standards
What lives at Carver and how can we care for it?
How can scientists use observation and biodiversity data to understand ecosystem health?
How do soil, water, and biodiversity interactions shape ecosystems?
How do interactions between organisms and their environment affect ecosystem survival and stability?
How can scientific investigation lead to restoration, stewardship, and environmental action?
How can hidden ecosystem processes be revealed through scientific data collection and analysis?
OVERARCHING YEAR-LONG PROJECTS
Species Documentation Through Photography And Sound Recording
Our leading project this year is a year-long, student-led stewardship action project called Carver's Photo Ark. Inspired by National Geographic's PhotoARK, students will publish their species photography through schoolwide displays and publications.
BIOLOGICAL INVENTORY
BIOLOGICAL INVENTORY
Goal: Document 600 species on our campus and continue to support our research contributions.
NATURE CONNECTION
NATURE CONNECTION
Goal: Connect kids to nature while increasing the biodiversity of our schoolyard.
Species Documentation Mapping
POINT MAPPING
POINT MAPPING
Goal: Document species morphometric and habitat data and create a point map of our campus of known data points to establish population size and trends, habitat requirements, spatial data and distribution, and inform conservation actions.
SOIL
SOIL
Goal: Create a soil lab in the forest that is shared with 2nd and 3rd grade.
“The most powerful science learning takes place when students observe, explore, and investigate their own schoolyard ecosystems.”-NSTA – Outdoor Science Instruction: Making It Work
#GenerationRestoration
NATIVE HABITAT RESTORATION
HABITAT CERTIFICATION
NATIVE HABITAT RESTORATION
HABITAT CERTIFICATION
Goal: Collect native seeds and create native habitats to increase the biodiversity of our schoolyard.
NATIVE SEED COLLECTION
NATIVE SEED COLLECTION
Goal: Collect native seeds and share with our community.
For the 26-27 school year, Carver is a registered #GenerationRestoration School.
The Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), in partnership with the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, is supporting schools worldwide to take meaningful action for nature. By becoming a #GenerationRestoration School, Carver will join a global effort to stop and reverse ecosystem degradation, while gaining access to inspiring learning materials, hands-on activities and other opportunities for students and educators.
Our project, Seeds of Stewardship, is our flagship project for #GenerationRestoration.
ADVOCACY
Carver students write letters to our representatives to advocate for policies that impact outdoor learning, our schoolyard, and the Ogeechee River Basin. Student advocacy supports our National Wildlife Federation Eco-Schools Action Plan and is supported by the National Association of Environmental Education Guidelines of Excellence.
Mayors Monarch Pledge
Monarch butterflies are one of the most recognizable butterflies in North America. They have bright orange wings with black veins and white spots along the edges. But monarchs are more than just beautiful—they are important to our environment.
Monarchs are pollinators, which means they help plants grow and reproduce.
They are part of the food chain and support other wildlife.
Their long migration makes them a special and unique species.
In the fall, they fly south to Mexico to stay warm during the winter.
In the spring, they travel back north to the United States and Canada.
This journey can take several generations of butterflies to complete.
Monarch caterpillars only eat milkweed plants.
Without milkweed, monarchs cannot survive.
It’s important to plant native milkweeds!
Adult monarchs drink nectar from flowers.
Native plants like goldenrod, coneflowers, and black-eyed Susans are great sources.
Monarchs need places free from harmful pesticides.
They need open spaces like gardens, parks, and schoolyards.
Monarch populations have been decreasing over the years.
Loss of habitat due to development
Use of pesticides that harm butterflies
Climate change affecting migration patterns
Because of these challenges, people across the country are working to help monarchs survive.
Revitalizing America’s Schoolyards Act (RSYA)
Details of the Revitalizing America’s Schoolyards Act:
Creates a Revitalizing America’s Schoolyards Grant Program;
Defines a Revitalized Schoolyard as a park-like outdoor environment at an elementary or secondary school that has been updated to strengthen local ecological systems, provide a range of hands-on learning resources, and foster nature play and social opportunities while enhancing the health and well-being of children and adults. These schoolyards may include trees and plants where children can access them; cultivated gardens; outdoor meeting and gathering areas; and other elements designed by, and for, the students and the surrounding community;
Allows funds to be used to plan and implement a revitalized schoolyard(s);
Prioritizes funding for communities with high rates of students receiving free and reduced meals program; and
Requires a catalog of best practices for creating these spaces needs to be developed
GUIDING RESOURCES
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