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Elementary Education Node
About the node:
Children often form lasting relationships with nature through the places they know best: schoolyards, neighborhood trees, playgrounds, family stories, and everyday outdoor moments. This node invites students to closely observe trees, ask questions, document their observations, and see themselves as caretakers of the living world around them. Through place-based learning, student storytelling, mapping, art, and advocacy, the Youth Education Node demonstrates how trees can serve as powerful entry points for environmental learning, community memory, and student voice.
Meet the Node Curators: Jennie Warmouth
Jennie Warmouth is an educator at Spruce Elementary in Edmonds School District, where she has taught for 26 years. She also attended Spruce as a student, giving her a deep personal connection to the school, its land, its trees, and its community. Jennie holds a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology and a master’s degree in Curriculum and Design. As curator of this node, she brings together classroom teaching, curriculum development, storytelling, student advocacy, and place-based environmental learning.
Current Work
Tree Protection Club
An after-school club where elementary students investigate, document, and care for trees on their school campus through observation, science, storytelling, art, poetry, and stewardship.
Student Tree Stories and Art Gallery
Students are creating tree-centered artwork, poems, observations, family stories, and recommendations for tree protection. Their work will be shared through a Tree Protection Club gallery exhibit in Edmonds, Washington.
Mother Trees Connect the Forest
This project connects elementary students with university students studying elementary science education at UW Bothell. Together, they will explore how tree-centered learning can support future teachers and deepen place-based science education.