healthy kids

Nature Speaks

STORYTELLING CONNECTS KIDS TO THE NATURAL WORLD

by Carrie Jackson

Children are natural storytellers with imaginations that shape their play and learning. In outdoor settings, everylearning. In outdoor settings, everything from puddles to pine cones thing from puddles to pine cones can engage children and draw them can engage children and draw them closer to the natural world, opening up closer to the natural world, opening up a lifelong appreciation of natural environa lifelong appreciation of natural environments. Connecting with nature also improves creativity, academic performance and attentiveness, while reducing stress and aggressive behavior, a academic performance and attentiveness, while reducing stress and aggressive behavior, a body of research shows.

Organizations, like the Wilderness Awareness School, a Duvall, Washington-based nonprofi t, work to help children and adults cultivate healthy relationships with nature, community and self. “We fi nd that children who feel at home in the outdoors are oft en more resourceful, creative and allow for curiosity to naturally unfold,” says Leah Carlson, director of marketing and communications at Wilderness Awareness School. “Allowing them to play freely and explore in nature is a wonderful way to build resilience and resourcefulness. When children can be intrigued through a story, it also allows them to understand their own outdoor experiences. Th ey become more adept at fi nding new solutions to problems using the tools they have access to and creative thinking.”

Weaving storytelling into their programs helps children understand their outdoor experiences. “Regular time spent with experienced nature mentors, playing games, exploring unique plants and animals and getting excited about the possibilities of nature is how a connection begins. When children are outside, the characters of these stories are the plants, animals, rocks and landforms around them. Th e suburban tree that was always an obstacle on the sidewalk can be seen through new eyes as a dragon, monkey bars or a red alder,” Carlson explains.

Megan Zeni, a public school teacher in Steveston, British Columbia, says there is a global body of research that shows every measure of wellness is improved through time spent outside. She teaches solely outdoors, ensuring that her students have exposure to nature regardless of which neighborhood they live in. “In our modern world, higher-income families generally have better access to green spaces. Incorporating outdoor activities into the school day gives children equitable exposure to nature and outdoor learning,” she explains.

Zeni uses both non-fi ction and fi ction storytelling approaches to teaching. “To learn about water cycles, I’ll have kids jump in puddles, observe where the water goes and track where it is in the community. Th ey’ll then relay a fact-based story based on their observations and experiences. For a lesson on squirrels, I’ll ask the students to imagine where their habitat is, who their family is and what they eat. We use loose parts, which are open-ended items, such as pine cones and sticks, to creatively illustrate the story.

“By using storytelling as a measure of knowledge, it is more equitable for students who don’t perform as well using traditional test and essay methods,” she says. Listening to a child’s story can also reveal misconceptions that can be clarifi ed through further exploration and instruction.

Storytelling can take on many forms and be enhanced with the use of props. As the artistic director of Rootstock Puppet Co., based in Chicago, Mark Blashford performs puppet theater rooted in stories that promote mutual kindness

and ecological awareness. “Puppets are remarkable storytelling agents because, not only can they play characters and support narrative through movement, they can also tell a story from the very material they inhabit,” he says. “Puppets invite kids to exercise empathy by compelling them to accept and invest in the thoughts, feelings and life of another entity.”

By making puppets out of wood and using them to weave environmental awareness into his shows, Blashford helps to put the natural world in perspective. “My show TIMBER! is about an entire forest and a single tree which is home to a family of spotted owls. I want children to see the role of both the forest and the

We find that children who feel at home in the outdoors are often more resourceful, creative and allow for curiosity to naturally unfold. –Leah Carlson

tree in the lives of an owl family. When they fall in love with little wooden puppet owls, they are able to convert the giant concept of deforestation into a manageable scale,” he says.

He encourages parents to regularly engage their children with their natural habitat. “Go to your local forest or park, fi nd a tree, name it and check on it as oft en as you can. Prompt children to ask questions about who they think lives in that tree, why the branches stretch out how they do and what happens at night. As children learn to see the outdoor world as part of their own characters and setting, the stories will develop naturally,” he advises. Connect with writer Carrie Jackson at CarrieJacksonWrites.com.

LEARN MORE

Rootstock Puppet Co.: rootstockpuppet.com

Wilderness Awareness School: wildernes sawareness.org

Megan Zeni: meganzeni.com

Pennsylvania Ranked on National Medical Cannabis Report Card

by Sven Hosford

Americans for Safe Access (ASA) is a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofi t spearheading the eff ort to ensure safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use and research. In a new ASA State of the States annual report card on the effi cacy of each state’s medical cannabis laws and programs, the commonwealth did well in patient rights and civil protections, but not so much with access to medicine. Executive Director Debbie Churgai says they’ve been working on it for 20 years, always focused on the patient. “Our mission is to ensure safe and legal access to medical cannabis. Educating lawmakers, educating medical professionals, educating the public, ending the stigma, getting more research out—these are all of our missions here.”

Churgai says, “Th ere was plenty of room for improvement in every state. States were graded on patient rights, parental rights and protections, employment protections for patients, and pediatric patients and their access to medicine.” Th ey were Debbie Churgai also graded on patient access, aff ordability of the products and other costs, and product safety. “Taxes are a huge issue. Sometimes, patients are paying more in taxes than they are for the actual medicine. We totally advocate for no taxes for medical patients,” she says. Pennsylvania’s grade was C+, which may seem average, but Churgai notes, “We had to grade on a curve. Every state’s score was so low, every state would have received a D.” Maine was awarded the only B, Illinois the only B-. Pennsylvania’s C+ was the third-highest score, the same as cannabis powerhouses like Colorado and California. “Pennsylvania did okay compared to the other states,” she says. Churgai describes how the grades were assigned. “It’s a very, very lengthy process. We started many, many months ago. We added two new sections, one on aff ordability and one on social health and equity, which is also a big, hot topic these days.” Th is includes ensuring there is no list of qualifying conditions. “We believe that a doctor should be able to recommend for anything that they see fi t,” she says. Pennsylvania’s program got off to a rocky start after dispensary doors opened in February 2018. The biggest problem was the unpredicted popularity of cannabis as medicine. Growers that planned on 50,000 patients in the first year were stunned when more than 100,000 people signed up. According to the report, today Pennsylvania has 384,254 registered patients, one of only five states with more than 300,000, which means 2.68 percent of the total population has a card. Access remains a problem, with a person-to-retail-outlet ratio of 2,403. Churgai says, “In Oregon, it’s about 50 patients per dispensary.” According to Churgai, “Pennsylvania did well on patient rights and civil protections, with an 80 out of 100 score, which is pretty good compared to a lot of other states. And program functionality, which is about purchase limits, possession limits, telemedicine, caregiver standards, things like that. Th ey did decently in consumer protection and product safety as well, where they got 148 out of 200. Pennsylvania is doing pretty good and they are making improvements. Every year they do try to improve the program. Th ere are some great legislators who are really focusing on this.” Pennsylvania’s lowest scores are in access to medicine. “Th e [lack of] retail locations is probably a big one. [Lack of] personal cultivation is huge. Th at is really important for patients, as it helps with aff ordability. Pennsylvania lost 20 points for not having reciprocity,” says Churgai, which means

permitting patients with cannabis cards issued from other states to purchase in Pennsylvania dispensaries. “Pennsylvania also scored low in health and social equity, especially housing protections. It’s really important for patients to be able to utilize medicine in their own home and feel protected.” Nationally, the general trend is for growth. “Not only are there more states with programs, but the number of patients in most states increased over last year, even in states with adult-use programs,” Churgai explains. “Last year’s report had 4.4 million patients, and this year that number is up to 5.1 million patients.” Of course, states won’t reach their full potential until aft er the federal government legalizes cannabis. “What’s going to happen aft er legalization? What will be the government agencies in charge of all these issues?” Churgai asks. “We have draft legislation that talks about how to protect all the state medical programs by making sure every state has a bare minimum of what they are allowing for patients.” We have a plan of what can happen aft er legalization occurs. We have to have full legalization in order to get health insurance companies to pay for it, get tax breaks, get banks to allow access, things like that. Federal coordination is so important to get patients everything they need and deserve.”

Visit NaturalAwakeningsSWPA.com to listen to the entire conversation. Find the full report on SafeAccessNow.org.

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