Sharing the beauty of the PNW – where experiential education comes to life with Mount Rainier Institute

The Mount Rainier Institute is an outdoor school program created by the University of Washington in partnership with Mount Rainier National Park that provides schools in Washington an in-depth educational experience. More than just a camp, MRI provides schools with overnight, multi-day programs focusing on STEM education at their residential learning center located in Pack Forest, WA.

MRI’s mission is to provide outstanding nature-based education experiences rooted in science and nurture for the next generation of learners and leaders.

The OYPC team had the pleasure of speaking with John Hayes, the Environmental Education Program Manager, to learn more about the history, impact, and accomplishments of MRI.

Building MRI and the Team

John Hayes was hired in 2012 as the Environmental Education Program Manager and has over 30 years of experience in overnight environmental education programs. Prior to coming to MRI, John has had 20 years leading and being a part of experiential education programs with National Parks, some include: the Teton Science School at Grand Teton National Park and the Director of Dunes Learning Center at Indiana Dunes National Park.

In 2012, John was hired by the UW School of Environment and Forest Science to start MRI in partnership with Mount Rainier National Park. John, alongside Dr. Greg Ettl, Director of the Center for Sustainable Forestry at the Pack Forest, brought this program from idea to reality in 2012. In coordination with schools, tribal entities, creating curriculum, and more – John was able to launch a pilot program in the fall of 2013 before officially opening the school programs fall of 2014.

As the director of the Mount Rainier Institute – John is responsible for many different aspects of the program, saying, “I do a little bit of everything.” His responsibilities include, curriculum development, program creation, recruiting, marketing, coordination, fundraising, and so much more. Although John does a lot to help this program, he primarily sees his role as someone who is putting the right people in the room together.

Along with John, there are 7 educators who create the curriculum and teach students during their stay at MRI. There’s a misconception that MRI is a summer camp for students and staff are considered camp counselors – the staff at MRI are highly trained, educated, and talented teachers who strongly believe in experiential education.

In addition to the educators, the Pack Forest Conference Center includes kitchen, maintenance and custodial staff who help keep the housing facilities clean and safe for their students and Additional important staff include the Forest Operations Specialist, Chase Beyer, who oversees forest maintenance as well as Pack Forest timber work and Dr. Greg Ettl.

Annually, MRI gets approximately 1,200 – 1,600 students, parents, and chaperones who participate in their overnight programming. Each overnight program has about 30 hours of instructional time which is similar to the amount of instructional time in a week of school.

MRI has a fall and spring season in which they operate their overnight programs. The fall season starts in early September and goes until Thanksgiving while the spring season goes from late March to mid June. Surprisingly, MRI is not very active in the summer season because it is a time for other University related operations to continue such as forestry internships.

The powerful impact of MRI

There are four big picture goals that MRI has for their programming which is rooted in their educational programming – the acronym of these goals also describes what MRI is: E.P.I.C.

The first goal is Education – The difference between teaching students science in a classroom versus teaching at MRI is that students get to engage in science in an authentic and real way which they might not be able to when they are at school.

“There’s an academic nature to what we do as the University of Washington. We are the School of Environment Forest and Science, we offer education in a very real and authentic way. We really try to make sure there is an experiential nature to what we do and that students are learning science by doing science outdoors in our forests and Mt. Rainier National Park – this is not a camp, students are in classes and doing real field work when they are out here.” – John

The second big picture goal is Place – MRI hopes to connect students to this place, which is the Mount Rainier region and Washington state. MRI wants students to recognize and appreciate the extraordinary and beautiful state we live in and are so lucky to call home. The goal of MRI is to have students develop a connection to the place, making them want to stay here and foster a desire to act responsibly and take care of the environment around them – wherever they may live within Washington.

The third big picture goal is to Inspire students in some way. One of the aspects of going to an outdoor school and being able to disconnect from your normal life is the opportunity to expand your comfort zone. At MRI, students have the opportunity to have a life-changing experience and inspiration is critical. So how does MRI inspire students?

“We don’t really know sometimes – some are inspired by science…many students have never done science like this and have never seen themselves as a scientist…another way might be that students will go up to Mt. Rainier and have this extraordinary experience where they are blown away by the beauty that is up there…some students are inspired by the relationships they develop with fellow classmates and teachers.” – John

The fourth big picture is Community. With the nature of how MRI programs are designed, being in close proximity with classmates, teachers, and chaperones for multiple days allows for the development of community in a different way than is possible in the classroom or at home. MRI sees community building as an essential part to solving environmental issues in society. John shares that “we have to learn to like each other, get along, and understand one another” in order to make a difference within our environment. As we emerge from the pandemic, it’s important to acknowledge that students may feel more desocialized and isolated as a result of being away from each other. MRI works to foster community and relationships among students and provide a safe and welcoming environment for students to reconnect.

The importance of experiential outdoor education

As the Director of MRI – there is always something to learn from your team and those you serve. We asked John about what he has learned from youth since beginning his time as the Director that allowed him to continue strengthening the program’s accessibility so that students of all economic backgrounds can experience MRI.

MRI continues to learn how to outreach more effectively so that the program can reach broader audiences including marginalized groups who have not had the opportunity to explore outdoor education. MRI’s ultimate goal is to make outdoor education a universal experience for everyone to enjoy and take away one or all of the E.P.I.C. components MRI strives to provide. John shares that in the last 10 years, MRI has been making strides in changing the way the program teaches. There is a new generation of staff and MRI educators who are coming in with better skills to reach more diverse groups of students.

MRI works with students from many different ages, types of schools, different regions, and backgrounds. John explains that “there may be a private high school group from an AP Environmental Science class from the suburbs one day, and young students from a completely different region in rural Washington the next.” MRI staff are trained and skilled with the tools to support the diverse audiences who come to MRI to experience the same magic of the PNW. MRI educators understand the different needs and goals of each student coming into the program, allowing them to strengthen the development of the E.P.I.C. goals. MRI allows each group of students who come in to discover and participate in their program at their own level, only pairing schools with one another if they are compatible – this could mean schools with similar philosophies, structures, or ages of youth.

“We never want to make students feel uncomfortable for any reason – students are already pushing their comfort zones by being away from home.” – John

John shares that his favorite thing about his role is getting to see students enjoy the experiences of the programs and being inspired by what they see and do at MRI. He describes the excitement students have when they get to see something they have only ever seen in their textbooks and how rewarding it is to share those moments with them.
It’s clear how passionate and driven John is about having students in Washington have access and opportunity to experience the outdoors like never before.

Overcoming challenges and looking at the future

COVID has been a great challenge that many youth programs have had to endure. John explains how devastating COVID had been to the program and other environmental education centers due to the sudden lack of students, budget, and the negative impact it had on the mental and physical health of youth. The MRI community learned how to advocate for themselves as programming began to open up again, explaining that “the last year felt like starting over again.”
John also worked with the Washington Outdoor Schools Coalition which helped pass House Bill 2078 establishing the Outdoor Schools For All program. Like it sounds, the bill bolsters outdoor education experiences and aims to ensure that all students in Washington have the opportunity to attend an overnight outdoor school program. HB2078 does this by establishing grant programs that help schools and outdoor education providers remove barriers to participation, like cost.
COVID made people recognize that students are missing out on critical experiences when they are not able to go outside; this is reflected through lower testing outcomes, such as math and reading scores, and socialization challenges. Research backing the importance of outdoor programs was a big factor for the legislature to support funding outdoor schools like MRI. In March 2022 House Bill 2078 was passed which increased the funding to help more schools participate in outdoor school programs throughout the state such as MRI.

“These programs are really important for students. If we give up on them, or say they’re too expensive, and we stop offering them, we are losing something really important. If we think of these as summer camp experiences that don’t have educational and relationship value, we are missing the point.” – John

Looking ahead, MRI continues to only grow stronger each year as staff become more capable in understanding the importance of outdoor education for youth. John is most excited about the potential of HB 2078, allowing for the expansion of access to the opportunities that MRI offers. Additionally, Washington state would be a leader for this type of outdoor programming. Some other future goals include getting a suite of winter dates put together, allowing for more schools to engage in MRI programming, and helping schools develop their own programming or finding other existing programming that fits their needs if MRI cannot.

---

Thank you to John for taking the time to share with our community the important and impactful work the MRI team has done for the past 10 years. Our community is so appreciative of the expertise and programming MRI brings to the University. If you would like to learn more about the different programs MRI offers, please visit their website for more information.

---

Mount Rainier Institute resources

View a video the University made with Mount Rainier Institute following a middle school who had the opportunity to experience a 4 day overnight program.