2025 Maine Teacher of the Year sheds light on her big focus: outdoor learning

Becky Hallowell, fourth-grade educator at Wiscasset Elementary School, aims to move more Maine students outdoors.

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Fourth-grade students in Becky Hallowell’s 2024 class at Wiscasset Elementary School explore the Outdoor Wonderful Learning Space near the Sheepscot River. Becky Hallowell photo

Becky Hallowell at the Hidden Valley Nature Center on Feb. 4. Becky Hallowell photo

During the early years of her sons’ lives, Becky Hallowell watched them climb trees and play in the backyard. Coming from a family of educators and being a fourth-grade teacher at Wiscasset Elementary School herself, she believed that her boys’ “innate wonder” would be nurtured in the public school system.

Inspired by her experience as a mother and an educator, Hallowell developed the Outdoor Wonderful Learning Space (OWLS) along the Sheepscot River. Hers is hardly the first approach to outdoor education; Earth-centered cultures like the Wabanaki tribes and David Sobel, author of “Childhood and Nature: Design Principles for Educators,” are just a few of many influences.

In an interview with The Times Record, Hallowell shared her plans to use her 2025 Maine Teacher of the Year platform to “demystify nature-based play,” emphasizing that one does not need a nearby river estuary to take students outdoors.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

A: I want to encourage more teachers to take their students outside. Maine has many unique ecosystems, and incorporating them into instruction is essential. I recognize that teachers need permission to try something new, and I’ve been fortunate enough to rewrite the rules. Wiscasset is a historically significant town on the Sheepscot River, an ideal for place-based learning. But you don’t need a river estuary. You just need the courage to take kids into nature and believe that magic can do the rest.

A fourth-grade student of Becky Hallowell’s points out the thick sheet of ice formed on the Sheepscot River on Jan. 26. Becky Hallowell photo

A: I grew up surrounded by the language of teaching. My mom used to bring leftover produce to her first graders, and in October, they’d decorate pumpkins. I inherited her creativity and have always felt comfortable leading. I’ve also been fortunate to have had administrators who have allowed me much flexibility. Teaching is akin to following a recipe; initially, you adhere to the guidelines, but with experience, you modify the curriculum to suit your preferences.

One of the purple mushrooms Becky Hallowell found on her hike is the violet cort (Cortinarius iodes). Becky Hallowell photo

A: As a child, I always enjoyed exploring nature. As I grew older, I developed a love for running and hiking. But things changed when I injured my back. I had to slow down and couldn’t move as fast as I used to. That’s when I started noticing mushrooms. I took a class with a mushroom expert to learn more about different species. Around the same time, I attended the Teacher Institute for Watershed Science and Conservation at the Ecology School, which changed my teaching style. I started taking my class outdoors, at least two or three times a week, even in the winter. There are many cool apps, like iNaturalist and Mushroom Identify. When students bring in something to examine, we use technology, microscopes and magnifying glasses to learn more about it.

On Dec. 5, 2023, fourth graders in Becky Hallowell’s 2024 class at Wiscasset Elementary School explored the Hidden Valley Nature Center in Jefferson, which they visit monthly. Becky Hallowell photo

A: During the second wave of COVID-19, my colleague Kaden Pendleton and I searched for a place to take the kids. We stumbled upon an overgrown area near the Wiscasset Elementary ball field. After clearing it out, we took our fourth graders to the waterfront and created an outdoor community.

I had recently read David Sobel’s “Childhood and Nature: Design Principles for Educators.” [Sobel] let his students create their civilization, and I felt inspired to do the same. I let my students make their own government and constitution. Later, they devised the tree-climbing rule and took it through the legislative process.

OWLS has become a host to various civics experiments; we let their imaginations run wild. In the classroom, we’ve debated the most efficient renewable energy source. Any chance I have to tie our state curriculum to nature, I do. That way, what happens in OWLS can be addressed in the classroom and vice versa.

A: All my students view going outside as a privilege and treat it respectfully. The reading I’ve done for my nature-based education classes and my personal experience have shown that kids who struggle with learning disabilities often thrive in nature. If a child has behavioral issues, taking them out into the wild may seem counterintuitive, but they are the most engaged and the easiest to manage.

Over the 2024 Labor Day weekend, Becky Hallowell hiked Katahdin. She thanked her husband for his patience as she spent over 15 minutes taking pictures of erosion to share with her students. Becky Hallowell photo

A: There is no magical formula. At OWLS, I sit back, take notes and let students solve their problems. I rarely insert myself; if so, I offer tasks to those seemingly on the outskirts, like becoming a berry collector. As teachers, we learn so much the less we speak. Someone might walk by, see the kids playing and myself sitting on a rock, and need clarification. But that’s all right! When you sit back and let things happen organically, the best learning is done.

A: As part of the fourth-grade science curriculum, we study weathering and erosion. When we come across a broken rock at OWLS, I encourage the kids to think about what caused it to break. They develop ideas like ice wedging or root wedging from a tree growing out of it. And it’s not just about science. We also discuss how to protect nature. I have the children create mock legislation themselves. This is all to say that OWLS harnesses imagination into discovery. I hope they maintain their curiosity as they age.

A: Years ago, I read a an article that said that the best conservationists had great outdoor experiences as children. I take my job seriously because I know my influence on the next generation. My students are future doctors, engineers, plumbers, electricians and entrepreneurs. I want them to feel connected to our Earth. I don’t want them to fear climate change but, instead, be empowered to mitigate its effects.

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