In 2016, Oregon passed M99, which dedicated funding to ensure that students around our state are able to learn about the place they live through Outdoor School. Gray Family Foundation is really proud of our work to establish Outdoor School as a state wide program, now managed by Oregon State University Extension, and help secure stable funding for the program. This year, we officially asked that the Trust funds in this account at Gray Family Foundation be made available for other grantmaking. A philanthropic success! If you aren't familiar with this Oregon program (or even if you are), I encourage you to watch this beautiful short film (produced by OSU Extension and created by LABS media) that follows one student's personal journey from fear and homesickness to building meaningful connections to nature and their classmates during a week of outdoor school.
Oregon's Outdoor School program, which enables every 5th or 6th grade student in the state to spend up to 6 days and 5 nights in school at an outdoor camp facility with their classmates, is a life altering experience for many students. This beautiful new short film captures this experience through the story of one young participant and his family. Angel Outside makes me really proud of the work of Gray Family Foundation (Portland, OR), #FriendsofOutdoorSchool and Oregon State University Extension's Outdoor School program to ensure this is an opportunity for ALL students in Oregon. #RethinkOutside #EnvironmentalEducation #YouthDevelopment #OutdoorSchoolforAll