The Wilderness Classroom started with a simple idea: to improve students’ core academic skills and appreciation for the environment by introducing elementary and middle school students to the wonders of exploration and wilderness travel.
Eighteen years and over a dozen expeditions later, the Wilderness Classroom is a 501(c)3 that reaches over 3,200 teachers and 100,000 students around the globe each year.
Our mission has never changed. We seek to instill a lifelong appreciation of the natural world while improving basic skills like reading, critical thinking and communication by highlighting the joy of discovery.
Since it is usually unfeasible to load a classroom of 4th grade students onto a plane and fly them to remote locations, we use a combination of interactive internet-based learning tools on our website, teacher training and both in school and virtual school assemblies to accomplish our mission.
School Assemblies
Our School Assemblies are delivered by National Geographic Adventurers of the Year, Dave and Amy Freeman. The Freemans are memorable speakers who have entertain and inspire audiences of all ages through more than 700 presentations.
The Freemans combine stunning images and videos with riveting accounts of their epic journeys to remote locations across the globe. Presentations are routinely tailored to fully engage a variety of audiences including, K-12 schools, colleges, libraries, conferences, and corporate events. The Freeman’s also use Zoom and other video conferencing technology to conduct virtual assemblies.
Educational Expeditions
Most years the Wilderness Classroom designs and undertakes several educational expeditions in remote locations around the world. Plus we partner with other explorers and travelers interested in sharing their experiences with classrooms.