The Story Walking Radio Hour with Wendy Fachon

Thinking Outside the Box on Environmental Issues In order to find solutions to the problems in the world, I challenge people to search outside the box. The box could be physical, like an indoor classroom, an office building or a house. Getting outside tends to lead to greater imaginative thinking. Here are some problems reported in a recent article about crumbling urban schools: “Very little visible student learning was going on in the majority of classrooms and schools we visited – most especially in the middle and high schools,” and “Some rooms were utterly chaotic and unsafe,” the report continued. “Students were laughing, screaming, moving around and physically harassing one another, climbing up bookshelves.” Sounds like these kids are ready to break out of the box. What might happen if we took school education outside? In the first segment, I will share some fun experiences and engaging ideas for getting elementary-aged students outside the box to expand their learning. In our second segment, an outside-the box-thinker, Peter Klepeis, a Professor of Geography at Colgate University will be speaking with us about “The Geography of Happiness.” Peter’s research and teaching focus on nature-society relationships and themes in sustainability science. Peter Klepeis. Peter gets his students outside and experiencing different landscapes. Peter’s assignments unnerve some students initially, however, in short order, those students become very connected with place and the experiences are transformational. This particular show will be framed with two dramatic stories, both about some birds I’ve encountered, and the messages they imparted to me, about thinking outside the box.