testimonials

Our school board was looking for a presenter to provide PD to all our K – grade 8 teachers with a focus on outdoor learning. Megan Zeni was the absolute right choice! She created 3 workshops to fit our needs. These workshops started with transitioning to teaching outdoors and ended with ideas on loose parts and risky play. Each session built on the one before and provided our teachers with the confidence to take their learning outdoors.

Megan is full of passion for outdoor learning, and it comes through in the meaningful way she shares her experiences and engages with the participants, each session left you wanting more.

Our teachers were immediately engaged and left each session inspired to implement what they’d learned. We now have teachers in all our schools taking their students outside daily.
As board lead for outdoor learning, I also gained valuable information on how to expand outdoor learning initiatives at a board level and to better support our teachers in their outdoor learning goals.

We already have plans for additional workshops with Megan in the future, including one for all our administrators so they can benefit from her experience and better envision what outdoor classrooms might look like at their schools.
We are so grateful to Megan for these amazing workshops and the impact outdoor learning will
have on our students!

"I have attended some of Megan's virtual workshops, and gained a wealth of practical knowledge about taking my teaching and my students outside. Megan's passion for teaching students outdoors has also inspired my own learning journey , where I am creating my masters thesis project around place based learning in an urban setting. Thank you Megan!"

"I have attended some of Megan's virtual workshops, and gained a wealth of practical knowledge about taking my teaching and my students outside. Megan's passion for teaching students outdoors has also inspired my own learning journey , where I am creating my masters thesis project around place based learning in an urban setting. Thank you Megan!"

"Thank you for being the perfect combination of master teacher and passionate gardener. Your garden series of workshops were among my personal top 5 professional development programs I have taken over the course of my 28 year teaching career (and I have done a lot in numerous subjects!). The balance of theory and practice, the fostering of dialogue and problem-solving and the quiet way you encourage us to try things kept me excited over the school year. I always looked forward to our classes and was so grateful that the Master Gardeners supported your series.

My notes have been transcribed onto the computer along with photos so that I will have this companion teaching guide for my school garden. I have also been sharing what I've learned with my school staff and recommending the series, should it happen again at Van Dusen. My thinking about gardening and the role it can have with students has been transformed by your teaching."

"This has been by far the best workshop series that I have taken part in. I came into the series with absolutely no gardening experience and left with so much knowledge. I have been able to apply everything that has been taught through the series, within my school community and have seen the positive impact that gardening can have on my students and the community as a whole. I would love to continue on in this workshop next year, as I have found the experience truly valuable. Thank you so much!"

"Before I attended this series my knowledge of gardening was minimal and I was very timid to get outdoors to start planting with my students because I didn't know where to start and I was afraid I would do it wrong and nothing would grow. However, after attending this series my knowledge of gardening has shown exponential growth, I was outdoors with my students all year and we were able to grow and harvest a variety of crops. The step by step series also allowed for my to have check ins and to know what to do next."

"Megan's enthusiasm and passion for creating a garden classroom space shines through. I thought her ideas for play spaces in the garden (even just dirt and trucks) are brilliant! She showed us how an outdoor classroom can work for every child!"