Embedded Files
Welcome to the
Outdoor & Nature Learning Initiative (OLNI) website.
This site is currently in a soft launch phase as we continue to build and refine resources for West Virginia educators. If you have questions, feedback, or suggestions, we invite you to share them by completing the feedback form linked to the right. Your input will help shape this resource to better support outdoor and watershed-based learning in the classroom.
The West Virginia Outdoor Learning Network Initiative (OLNI) is a partnership of nonprofit organizations, school districts, and other local entities committed to advancing environmental literacy for students in the portion of West Virginia within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. OLNI supports high-quality Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEEs), the gold standard in environmental literacy. Each MWEE includes an outdoor field experience connected to classroom learning, a hands-on conservation action, and opportunities for age-appropriate reflection.
This website also serves as a hub for conversation and collaboration among anyone professionally involved/interested in watershed education in our region. We invite you to join the discussion, share ideas, and connect with others who are passionate about environmental education.
This website also contains a curated collection of educational resources, much of which is specific to West Virginia. These materials are designed to support teachers, students, and community members in exploring and protecting our local watersheds. We hope you find inspiration, practical tools, and new ideas to bring environmental learning to life.
Questions? Email olni@potomacaudubon.org
Core Partners
Core Partners
The core partners listed below are the organizations, including school districts, that are directly involved in planning MWEE programs and who regularly attend the OLNI planning meetings.
Cacapon Institute
Cacapon Institute
Cacapon Institute is a member of the Chesapeake Bay Program Education and Forestry workgroups and a founding member of the WV DEP Chesapeake Bay Program. Since 2006, Cacapon Institute has provided schools with MWEE lessons, materials, and technical assistance needed to install watershed conservation best management practices. Thousands of students across eight counties have taken real-world action to reduce stormwater runoff pollution.
Email: mwee@cacaponinstitute.org
Office: (304) 258-8013
Potomac Valley Audubon Society
Potomac Valley Audubon Society
Each year, the Potomac Valley Audubon Society (PVAS) serves thousands of schoolchildren, including nearly every 4th-grade student in Berkeley, Jefferson, and Morgan Counties, through our 4th Grade Watershed Education Program. PVAS also offers a wide variety of other nature-based educational opportunities for children and adults of all ages.
Email: info@potomacaudubon.org
Office: (681) 252-1387
Experience Learning
Experience Learning
Our education programs focus on developing effective community members through relevant, beyond- the- classroom, learning. We offer authernic esperiences, from outdoor adventures to citizen-science investigations. Some of our school programs include: literature based investigations, monarch adventures, Appalachian watershed and stream monitors , or maple in the classroom.
Email: info@experience-learning.org
Office: (304) 606-3233
https://experience-learning.org/learn/
Berkeley County Schools
Berkeley County Schools
Jefferson County Schools
Jefferson County Schools
Morgan County Schools
Morgan County Schools
Other Partners & Supporters
Other Partners & Supporters
There are many ways to support the work of OLNI. The partners and supporters listed below support both the overall work of WV OLNI and/or the MWEE programs provided by the core partners listed above. Some of these partners/supporters provide financial support, others provide in-kind boots-on-the-ground help, others provide both!
Berkeley County Public Service Stormwater District
Berkeley County Public Service Stormwater District
The Berkeley County Stormwater District supports outdoor learning and watershed education through community outreach, youth engagement, and hands-on environmental initiatives. Their efforts include tree planting programs, stream restoration, community cleanups, and educational opportunities that help students and residents better understand stormwater management and its impact on local waterways.
Praise for WV OLNI
It is a hands-on, learner-centered, educational program that focuses on students actively discovering local environments. Aligned with WV State Science Standards...students gain the knowledge, tools, and local connections they need to advocate for stronger, sustainable, benefits of a healthy environment...and how they can protect nature and vital waterways.”
Bryan Hott , Mill Creek Intermediate
Participant in Potomac Valley Audubon Society's 4th Grade Watershed Education Program
Page updated
Report abuse