Building a Learning Community

From the very beginning, the team at Barnacles & Bees has been intentional about building an outdoor learning community committed to bringing families together in nature. We forged our mission, defined our organizational values and honed our ideas around this commitment. We met countless times to discuss and refine. But what we also understood is that we can’t achieve the goals of our organization without also understanding and incorporating the needs and ideas of the community that we wish to serve.

Last June, our team hosted its first community meeting and invited prospective parents, community leaders, early learning professionals, park staff and more to weigh in on how Barnacles & Bees could work to achieve our mission. We presented our vision for Bremerton and what we hoped to accomplish through our programming. Here is the link to our presentation.
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In addition to our presentation, we also sought new and unique ideas for incorporating our five value pillars (Community & Inclusion, Confidence, Curiosity, Creativity, Conservation) into our curriculum and operations. The second half of the meeting was a workshop and interactive breakout session where we invited participants to weigh in on our ideas, mission and vision. Through the lens of each of our five values - we asked:

• What resonates with you about this particular value or concept?
• How can we foster this idea at Barnacles & Bees? What are some ways that you imagine a school day to be like with this in mind?
• Are there community stakeholders that we should be thinking of to help support this value or idea?
• In what ways do you imagine the Barnacles & Bees community of children, families and friends contributing to the greater Bremerton community?

We really appreciate the following groups for attending and bringing their ideas to the table and wanted to share these ideas with our greater learning community. Special thanks to Washington State Parks, Bremerton School Board, Holly Ridge Center, Kitsap Regional Library, Kitsap Community Resources, and individuals like Courtney Weaver, Shawnee Scott, Steve & Julie Algiere, Hugh Willa, Ryan Cockrel for bringing your incredible insight and expertise to the table. We look forward to making more amazing connections in the community and incorporating ideas from our first meeting into the work that we do at Barnacles & Bees.

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM OUR COMMUNITY MEETING & WORKSHOP

• The community is very excited about the programs that we are bringing to Bremerton and agreed that the need for quality preschool programming is huge.
• The attendees encouraged our team to forge additional alliances with other local programs and organizations including Olympic College, Kitsap Audubon Society, Bremerton Rotary, Peninsula Land Trust, Master Gardeners and more.
• The attendees were excited about outdoor programming, but encouraged us to have a detailed safety plan for the children in our handbook.
• Each of the attendees agreed that inclusion is a priority and helped us think through ways to reach out to marginalized members of the community including low income families, people of color, and children of all abilities. 
• The attendees helped us talk through how our programs might benefit the community further and brought up ideas worth implementing including: forest clean-up days, public art/recycled art projects, continuing the Free Family Nature classes, and expanding our programs.
• Lastly, it was important to everyone that our programs are affordable to the community. 

We hope to work towards implementing these ideas and will continue to seek funding for our programs so that all families in Bremerton can find their place in nature. Everyone belongs in nature together.

Post written by Krystal Meiners.