PEAS (Partners for Education, Agriculture & Sustainability)

PEAS is an organization made up both former classroom teachers and experienced outdoor educators. We collaborate and amplify our impact by working with many partners including school staff, volunteers, parents, community stakeholders, city entities, and foundations.

What we believe: We believe that outdoor education during the school-day is the most meaningful way to learn. We believe that every child deserves the opportunity to engage in hands-on learning. We believe that the foundational step to take in transforming traditional education from a system of worksheets and memorization to one which engages students in interactive project-based learning is to assist overworked teachers by providing environmental educator-led, year-round programming by delivering lessons aligned to academic standards directly to students, while engaging teachers in experiential professional development during those lessons.

What we do: Improve access to outdoor education during the school day Provide engaging outdoor and kitchen lessons delivered in an equitable and culturally responsive manner Mentor and energize teachers in using the outdoors as a living learning lab Support schools ’ efforts to integrate outdoor and edible education as instructional strategies Increase student time spent learning outdoors Build strong partnerships that will amplify our positive impact in the community.

During the 2018-19 school year PEAS provided garden and nature-based science and health classes to 17 schools in Austin.

• 22 programs in 17 schools
• 123 classes receiving a over 1400 individual lessons 
• Almost 2200 students spending of 23,000 hours actively engaged in nature-based learning during the school day!