Heidi Mckay
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Down to Earth Forest School is the organic byproduct of a vibrant cross-pollination between Heidi’s lifelong passion for nature and children. “It’s incredibly cathartic for me to see children in nature, free to be. It pains me to see the limited scope of freedom our children have to learn and explore in our current society. The trees, they want to be climbed.”
Working with children has inspired Heidi for over 20 years. She has facilitated child development in many settings, from working in developmentally and mentally challenged early childhood classrooms to Head Start programs, Waldorf and public schools—her roots run deep and wide. Heidi has a B.S. in Early Childhood Education and a Master’s certification in Early Childhood Mental Health. She weaves in her background of Yoga Calm, Brain Gym, meditation, Permaculture for Educators, Coyote Mentoring and often teaches a Positive Discipline series at local libraries, childcare facilities and parent groups. Heidi, ever a lifelong learner, aims to collect one new certification or training per year as well as attending the Natural Start Alliance each year. Frequent visits to the weekend offerings at the Wilderness Awareness school further deepens Heidi’s toolkit. Formal training as a forest school teacher at the renowned Cedarsong Forest School in 2017 was one of the solidifying factors that encouraged Heidi to continue her forest school model, similar in every way to Cedarsong. Erin helped to bring the Forest School philosophy and forest school teacher training to North America, and before her passing encouraged teachers she had trained to collaborate, support one another, and build a larger community of safe and innovative programs. Heidi encourages folks curious about starting their own forest school program to reach out, she very much enjoys supporting others. Heidi stays involved with the American Forest Kindergarten Association, founded by Erin, as a speaker and to continue the collaborative work to bring forest school to a high standard of equity. As one of the founders of the OELAO, Outdoor Early Learning Alliance of Oregon, Heidi will continue to volunteer her time until every family across the state of Oregon can choose forest school for their child regardless of their economic situation. Most recently Heidi transitioned Down to Earth to a 501c3 not for profit with the goal of equity and inclusion. In her life outside of school, Heidi is mom to Lucy, 19 and Tobias, 11. She and her husband, a child and family therapist, love their life together together in the historic district of Oregon City. “More than anything I just love a good ol’ adventures and that’s exactly why Forest school is the perfect job for me!”
Audra Cordell
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DTE embodies many of the fundamental beliefs and values that I feel are essential for developing minds to grow and learn. Place and play based, inquiry driven education in a forest environment - it doesn’t get much better than that!
I grew up in hot, rural Northern California at the end of a dirt road. My childhood was filled with scraped knees, climbing trees, catching lizards, collecting snails and avoiding going inside whenever possible. I was perhaps a bit of a wild child, and when my family moved to the Puget Sound area, I thought my life was over because of all the rain! However, I quickly learned that the right outdoor gear makes all the difference and fell in love with the Evergreen State. I continued to explore as a child and youth in such beautiful places as Mt. Rainier National Park, the Olympic mountains and along the beaches of the Puget Sound. My love of the outdoors was cemented by the many backpacking and kayaking trips I took as a high schooler and young adult.
In college I studied both education and science and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Geology from Portland State University. After college, I moved back north to Seattle and worked for six years as a geologist for a geotechnical and environmental engineering firm. I spent almost every day outside and loved it – but something was missing. So, I decided to pursue my lifelong dream of being a teacher and went back to school to get my Master of Arts in Teaching from Lewis and Clark College. After graduating, I worked as a K-1 teacher in Edmonds, WA, taught 5th grade at Gaffney Lane Elementary and most recently taught 1st grade at Springwater Environmental Sciences School.
Nowadays, I continue to enjoy the outdoors in many ways including regenerative gardening, hiking, paddle boarding, skiing, long family walks and running. Spending quality time with my family is very important to me. My husband and I have two wonderful children, a third grader and a three-year-old who will be joining the preschool program with Heidi this coming year. One of our favorite family pastimes is playing overly complicated board games! We also have a sweet dog, Hazel who we spend a lot of time playing with, and six lovely backyard chickens! In my spare time you can usually find me with dirty hands in my yard and a pile of plants I’m trying to make room for, or my nose in a book.
Erin Raley
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Erin has worked as a teacher her entire career. Her diverse background in education has included all ages and many cultures, with various learning environments from one-on-one lessons to large classroom settings, and with subject matter ranging from Kindergarten to English language to music.
Erin grew up studying classical music and musical theater on Florida’s Space Coast and graduated with a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology from Florida State University. Her first teaching experiences were to preschool and Kindergarten students in the U.S. before working as an ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher in Japan, France, and the Czech Republic. After living abroad, Erin returned to the U.S. to live in Portland and taught ESL to groups of international students. Portland felt like home to Erin right away; she was always drawn to the Oregon wilderness (and to the Portland music scene, through which she met her husband).
After years as a stay-at-home mama, Erin began re-entering the working world as an assistant teacher with Ms. Mandy at Down to Earth in the fall of 2021. Ms. Mandy, Ms. Heidi, and the entire team have had endless wisdom to share, and Erin is grateful to work with such dedicated, creative, and inspiring educators. Now she is leading the first and second grade Earth Class, and her two children are part of the Forest School family, too!
Erin believes that every child - every human! - is unique and whole and important, and this philosophy guides her teaching style. She meets each child with curiosity and compassion and supports them on the journey of discovery and wonder. At home, Erin and her husband have cultivated a family culture based around Montessori-style learning which fosters children's independence in all activities. Erin’s passion for teaching and love of the wilderness align serendipitously with the ethos of our incredible forest school! When she’s not teaching or "momming," Erin keeps busy by making music, gardening, adventuring, cooking, and spending quality time (playing Carcassonne!) with her husband, their two children, and their kitties.
Erin Gingerich
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My name is Erin Gingerich and I am so excited to be teaching your children in kindergarten at the Forest School this year! I have taught Kindergarten, 2nd, and 3rd graders over the last 17+ years in both public and private settings. I am grateful for all my experiences but Kindergarten is my absolute favorite grade to teach!
I grew up in Pennsylvania and my family has always had strong connections and a love of being outdoors. Many of my fondest memories are from camping with friends and exploring via hiking biking, tubing, and netting and catch and release of all kinds of critters!
I have 2 boys: my oldest is 11, his name is Jack and my youngest is Lincoln and he is 7. My boys have gotten the outdoor exploration bug from me and love to do many of the same types of exploration outside, especially what we call “creek stomping,” where they like to catch and observe all the water critters they can find. This summer we went to Maine for the first time and explored beaches, did some tide pool exploration, braved some pretty intense hikes and became Jr. Rangers. We visited my family in Pennsylvania as well and went to lots of ponds and rivers, enjoyed fishing, swimming, cabin visits, and playing with cousins too.
I am very excited to be able to do some very real hands-on learning, nature science, and curriculum exploration and integration out in an actual nature setting! What a very real way to connect with the world! Thank you all so much for going on this journey with me! I very much look forward to this year and exploring and learning with your children in Kindergarten!
Märta Bacon
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Growing up in Seattle, Märta spent her free time adventuring on her grandparent’s beach on Vashon Island, where she was able to foster a relationship with the outdoors at a very young age. She was lucky enough to attend forest camp before it was cool! Her mom was a preschool teacher and program director at the local YMCA, which led her to working there in her teens and early twenties in almost every childcare program they offer. She quickly adapted to each program, as she has always felt an ease of communication with young kids.
Coming from a family of artists and teachers, creativity has been a constant in Märta’s life. After completing grade school in a traditional public school setting, she longed for something “different” in her college experience. This led her to a small creative art school in Poulsbo, WA, where she completed her BFA with majors in graphic design and fine art amongst the trees and beaches of the Puget Sound. From there she worked in the apparel industry for a major clothing retailer and later for a smaller screen printing company as a graphic designer and in apparel printing and embroidery production.
After having their daughter and moving to Oregon for her husband’s profession, she fell in love with the outdoors all over again and all that Oregon has to offer. In researching potential preschools, she was thrilled to find DTE, as she equally appreciates the value of giving young kids the autonomy to explore the outdoors in a world that often limits those interactions. She wanted something “different” for her child, too. She was lucky enough to work in her daughter’s class one day a week last year and loved it so much that she couldn’t stay away and now she gets the pleasure of helping cultivate that love for nature with your kindergartners. She understands the importance of this relationship and can’t wait to get to know you all!
Briana Sellars
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Being born and raised in the lush state of Oregon, Briana early on became connected to the beauty and healing that the natural world effortlessly provides. She has always found comfort and safe spaces submerged in the forest. Enjoying the moments spent outdoors throughout all seasons, finding the beauty and powerful insights within them. She has been honing in on her creative skills since a young child, which have become a foundational practice for her throughout the years.
Working in hospitality for over 10 years she has developed the ability to attune to the needs of others and to problem solve in ways that bring harmony and peace to all parties involved. Her gentle nature provides safe spaces for others to feel held, seen and heard. Her ability to show up in total presence with those she’s connecting with, allows people the opportunity to be authentic in their truth, and to shine freely.
Briana embraces a childlike wonder to the world around her, which allows her to continuously feel inspired to observe and learn about her surroundings. She loves to learn about the people in her life, the plants that surround her, and the many avenues of the healing arts. She is driven to be of service to others and to help them in the ways that she can. In her free time you can find her hiking, reading a good book, or dancing in the kitchen while cooking a nourishing meal. She is happily looking forward to being a part of the Down To Earth team and connecting with the community it brings, as the mission connects deeply to her values and desires for the world.
Holly Bamber
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In the forest is Holly’s favorite place to be. She grew up wild and free exploring the woods of the multiple islands in Western Washington where she spent her early years. As a teen she worked at her dad’s orchid nursery and helped on their hobby farm on Camano Island but also began working with kids as soon as she stopped being a kid herself. This lead her to work as a nanny for many years while she worked on her degree in Humanities for Teaching at Seattle University. After graduation she began her preschool teaching career at her first outdoor preschool in Santa Barbara. There she spent her days outside with the children teaching them organic gardening, animal husbandry and learned the value in child-led, place and play based learning. It was a dream come true and combined her love of earth connection and children! Through working at these schools, she was introduced to Positive Discipline and Compassionate/Non Violent Communication. She learned first hand from her mentors and took workshops helping her discover a new way to teach and communicate with children: with great compassion and consideration for their emotional capacity and need to openly express their emotions freely without judgement, punishment, shame, or guilt. She watched children flourish with this approach of validating their feelings and treating them with respect, and became committed to approaching teaching with this in mind. Holly went back to school and received her Masters Degree in elementary education from USC. After having her second daughter, Holly returned to teaching in an outdoor environment at Down To Earth’s former preschool program, Thimble Forest School where she taught with Ms. Heidi for many years. Holly considers herself a lifelong learner and has always enjoyed exploring new interests and skills. In 2019 she took a meditation teacher training and the following year started a class on mindfulness and meditation for young children at a local meditation center. Holly has a deep connection and love for the plant world and has studied folk herbalism and loves working with native plants, making plant medicines; oils, salves, and tinctures. She now will take this knowledge and her interests in foraging, basket making and spoon carving to bring ancestral based skills to the children of Down to Earth.
Holly is so excited to meld and incorporate all her favorite interests and skills in mindfulness, herbalism, native plant knowledge, ancestral skills, local food and cooking all under the umbrella of following the earth’s seasonal rhythms in connection with the local land into her job at DTE!
Holly is a steward of a magical 3.5 acre piece of land in the Beavercreek area of Oregon City with her partner and two daughters Leora and Maggie who also attend Down to Earth Forest School.
Board Members
Down to Earth Nonprofit could not exist without the thoughtful governance of our Board of Directors: Ashley Zweigart, Kerry Woodke, and Karen Buehrig.
