Master\u27s Project: Relationship With and Within the Land at a Preschool - Grade 12 School

Abstract

This project explored the role that relationship with and within a place can play in fostering environmental and community ethics at Riverstone International School in Boise, Idaho. Riverstone International School is an organization recognized for its academic achievement and outdoor program, however, recent events and dialogues have indicated that it does not necessarily always outwardly or inwardly embody right environmental or social relationships. This project focused primarily on two groups, with different, but ultimately convergent objectives: 1) teachers remembering stories associated with the place and, 2) students reimagining what environmental stewardship could look like. Each of these processes provided an opportunity to strengthen individual and collective awareness of responsibility and possibility for growth. Ultimately the process resulted in visible changes to the school campus, deepened relationships, and deepened understanding of individual values, strengths and callings, especially in relation to those voiced and practiced by the school. An additional and related focus of the project was the author’s own reflection on, and nurturing of, his personal and leadership practices which ultimately resulted in reframing of personal and professional calling