By adding the Director’s Cut section to our website we aim to provide visitors with a better idea of the spirit and substance in our educational program.  Think of it as a process of ‘adding extra scenes’ in order to create a fuller and richer picture of Sky Islands.  Think of it also as the Director’s preferred version of how we would want you to see our school.

Each week I will select articles and announcements that come across my desk and help to orient you to Sky Islands.  Please let me know which ones grab your attention and make the ‘cut’.

Regards, Shari

Sky Islands’ Director

Week 1—May 7

This week’s contributions are taken from the Children and Nature Network and present three articles by Richard Louv, Founding Chairman and author of The Nature Principle and Last Child in the Woods.

THE BOND OF SHARED SOLITUDE: Family Connection in the Natural World
Apr 28, 2012  by Richard Louv

Adapted from “The Nature Principle.” Boredom has its benefits. So does solitude, that lost art in the age of wall-to-wall media. To occasionally be alone — not lonely, but alone — is an important part of parenting and of marriage. One time, my wife Kathy rented a room at the beach, and spent a weekend …
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NEW NATURE-SMART CAREERS: 11 for the Future and for Right Now
Apr 20, 2012 by Richard Louv

Want to make a decent living and a better life? Here’s one way. Get a job – a nature-smart job. Or better yet, be a nature-smart entrepreneur. By that, I don’t mean a career devoted only to energy efficiency. That’s important, but there’s a whole new category of green jobs coming. These careers and avocations will …
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IT’S TIME TO REDEFINE GREEN JOBS: Thoughts Following the First-Ever White House Summit on Environmental Education
Apr 17, 2012 by Richard Louv

On Monday, April 16, the first-ever White House Summit on Environmental Education was held in Washington. This summit came at a precarious moment for environmental education and an economy that depends more than ever on environmental literacy. Not only is such literacy required because healthy businesses must be energy efficient, but because a new generation …
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