Today we’d like to introduce you to Amber Simons.
Hi Amber, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
When my daughter was born 8.5 years ago, I knew that education would be unconventional for us. I had been diving into alternative learning styles such as Montessori before her birth, and expanded my horizons once she was earth-side. Montessori ended up not being the ideal fit for us, as it was too boxed in, and too indoors. We needed something a bit more zoomed out.
I searched for an outdoor, child-centered program in our area and eventually found a very small nature preschool in someone’s backyard. My perspective began to widen, and after eventually becoming partner of this program when it moved to a county park, I learned a lot more about what was (and wasn’t) ideal for our family. So I created Unbound Earth School.
UES started as a fully outdoor drop-off program for mixed ages, 0-12. Soon after launching, we expanded up to age 18. Eventually, we realized that we were outgrowing the drop-off version of our program and wanted to prioritize a more rounded community of learners that included siblings, caregivers, grandparents, etc.
Through all of the phases, changes, and experience, the intention and philosophies have remained the same- to honor the individual learner, help families and community members achieve equitable outcomes, and to do all this in the great outdoors. Each learner was able to follow their own interests in a space that was trauma-informed and behavior literate. Life skills, social-emotional skills, and resilience were natural side effects of our setting on any given day. Over the years, our community continually found equitable outcomes each day we met for class, and our goals for equity in the greater community continued to refine.
Along the road, I realized that my community could really benefit from an earthen oven, for all the reasons I build them today: resilience, connection & educational abundance. I contacted the closest person in the state that I knew had experience building earthen ovens-April Magill of Root Down Designs in Charleston, SC. I asked if she had a workshop in the near future that I could take so I could propagate the skills in the Midlands. Apparently my timing was perfect, because she had just helped start a non-profit organization called Root Down Building Collective (RDBC) and they were set to do a cob oven build a couple months later. April graciously invited me to attend this special event, and as a result of the build I was completely filled with gratitude from the new skillset I had, the connection I experienced, and the resilience this would bring to my community. Since then, I have helped build 12 earthen ovens over 3 years in the SE United States.
I have researched extensively and experienced in real time, over almost a decade that true learning comes best from a wide variety of ages, skill levels, and backgrounds participating together. As in- the community learning alongside one another. UES now prioritizes facilitating community-led learning, primarily through building wood-fired earthen ovens.
Historically, the oven is the cornerstone of the village. By helping communities build their own earthen ovens, I am able to help them increase their resilience, connection, and educational abundance in a way that is completely scalable and customizable to that particular community’s needs-whether it’s a farm, school, church, therapeutic facility, or anything in between.
The goals ahead of UES are: to help more communities build earthen ovens, to offer professional development courses (designed by UES or your personal community) through the process of building ovens, and to help train future oven builders so that this resilience, connection, & educational abundance can continue to ripple out in the most equitable way.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The road is always the smoothest when I remember “less is more”, and to take time to pause, breathe, and observe my own needs/the needs of my direct community. The biggest struggles I have faced are the ones that have made me the most resilient. Being a pioneer means you are bringing ideas to the table that might be unfamiliar, and therefore; inconsistently received. However, it has been through experiences as such that I have been able to expand my perspective and help come up with creative approaches that make my model of community-led learning through earthen ovens adaptable to any community’s needs.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am the founder of Unbound Earth School, an organization that helps facilitate community-led learning primarily though the construction of wood-fired earthen ovens.
I also specialize in helping families and organizations navigate behavior challenges through an alternative therapeutic lens.
Unbound Earth School is pioneering a revolution of learning that prioritizes a community-centric approach. When specific communities like schools, co-ops, farms, churches, etc. are ready to serve the real needs of their real community-they can achieve fully equitable outcomes all around. I have experienced that this can be facilitated through a simple wood-fired earthen oven. It is the cornerstone of community resilience, connection, and educational abundance. How? Well, keeping it simple:
Resilience is achieved through the earthen oven by offering a space to cook food, raise funds by selling pizzas, increases their sustainability, enhances their skillset, provides sensory resilience and very therapeutic outcomes for the nervous system, and so much more.
Connection is enhanced because building an oven requires organic teamwork. There is a job for anyone and everyone-from digging dirt, to cooking. Stories are told. We are outdoors, absorbing Vitamin D and connecting with one another while we connect with nature…and so much more.
Educational abundance is imminent-from breaking the first bit of ground for the foundation all the way to carpentry for the roof, fire skills, making dough, growing a pizza garden, foraging oyster mushrooms, collecting rainwater from the roof to water your garden, the networking skills required to ask your local pizza place for toppings, or composting the veggie scraps. And So. Much. MORE!
Again, each individual community will have their own unique experience and their own benefits that directly serve their needs, making this offering a fully scalable model. I’m just taking something that used to be the epicenter of the community, and bringing it into modern times.
Maybe your community wants to start an outdoor classroom. Maybe you want to feed hungry people. Maybe you need fundraising solutions. Maybe a bit of all of it. Together, we can help facilitate place-based and community-led learning with fully equitable outcomes.
What matters most to you?
Helping communities meet their needs in regards to mental wellness, real food, and connection- because these are the critical elements to humans surviving and thriving.
Pricing:
- Free Consults for your Community
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.unboundearthschool.org
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/unbound.earth.school
