ShiftED Podcast #81 In Conversation with Steve Leckman Back to Basics: Learning with Nature

What happens when you trade screens for streams and let kids rediscover what’s just outside the door? We sit down with Steve Leckman, director and lead instructor at Coyote Programs, to explore how immersive outdoor education builds focus, resilience, and real connection—especially for students growing up in urban environments.Steve shares how a reluctant first canoe trip sparked a lifelong commitment to nature-based learning, and unpacks a practical, school-friendly approach that blends wilderness skills, ecology, leadership, and play. We talk fort-building instincts, sit spots, weekly outdoor routines, and how simple schoolyard experiences can reduce anxiety and deepen learning. From one-off workshops to ongoing programs, this conversation makes the case for outdoor learning not as an “extra,” but as essential groundwork for stewardship, wellbeing, and curiosity.Your schoolyard is a living lab—what will you try first?