OUTDOORS TOMORROW FOUNDATION TO DOUBLE IMPACT, BRING OUTDOOR ADVENTURE EDUCATION TO 80,000 STUDENTS PER YEAR
Non-Profit Provider of Outdoor Skill, Safety, and Conservation Curriculum to Schools Grows From 418 Campuses to Over 800
The leading provider of outdoor skill, safety and conservation curriculum to schools nationwide—the Outdoors Tomorrow Foundation—will more than double the number of campuses and students it impacts in 2020.
Currently, teachers at 418 schools in 29 states use OTF’s Outdoor Adventures curriculum to educate 40,000 middle- and high-schoolers on a wide range of important outdoor skills, safety and conservation topics. By the end of 2020, OTF material will be in 800 schools reaching 80,000 students annually.
“The picture of today’s typical teen is sitting inside with a face buried in a screen,” said OTF Executive Director Sean McLelland. “But with our curriculum, teachers are changing that, getting teens outside, savvy about safety and conservation and excited to engage the great outdoors.”
The Outdoors Tomorrow Foundation will propel this growth as a result of nationwide support from like-minded conservation groups and strategic expansion in public and private schools.
Founded in 1981 in Dallas, Outdoors Tomorrow Foundation is a public nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. Schools pay just $1,000 for teachers to receive OTF’s Outdoor Adventures curriculum, training and ongoing support. For many schools, grant money offsets the cost, plus OTF offers matching funds for equipment as new schools join the program. The resulting classes can be taught as a P.E. course, local elective, or with agricultural science and wildlife management.
The detailed lesson plans cover angler education, archery, hunter education, boater education, orienteering, survival skills, camping, outdoor cooking, challenge course, backpacking, mountain bike camping, paddle sports, rock climbing, shooting sports, CPR/first aid and fauna, flora and wilderness medicine.
“Outdoor Adventures (OA) is not your traditional P.E. course or elective,” McLelland said. “We have research to support improved attitudes, discipline, social skills and attendance associated with OA. Some schools report a 30 percent increase in P.E. enrollment with OA. Students love the class and schools usually have a waiting list for it.”
The impact of the curriculum can be life-changing . . . and life-saving.
Middle-schooler Isabella Ferreri put the CPR skills she learned in Outdoor Adventures to use when a 5-year-old neighbor girl fell in a backyard pool and was unconscious and not breathing. Isabella’s quick CPR action saved the girl’s life.
Teachers deploy OTF curriculum in innovative and engaging ways.
Lloyd Love at Memorial High School in Pasadena, Texas, an OTF Teacher of the Year, converted an unused metal garage on campus into a archery range complete with realistic 3-D targets towed between fake foliage to simulate a real nature experience.
A wide range of outdoor-related businesses and organizations—and individuals—support OTF.
Outdoors Tomorrow Foundation GoOTF.com
Outdoors Tomorrow Foundation (OTF) began in 1981 with the primary purpose of teaching outdoor education and funding wildlife conservation efforts worldwide.
