{"id":19301,"date":"2018-01-09T05:00:26","date_gmt":"2018-01-09T13:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/?p=19301"},"modified":"2021-02-03T14:54:46","modified_gmt":"2021-02-03T22:54:46","slug":"opting-outside","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/opting-outside\/","title":{"rendered":"Opting Outside"},"content":{"rendered":"

For Rowan Diloia, the key to childhood learning wasn\u2019t in a classroom or in the pages of a book.\"\"<\/p>\n

It was outside, in the mountains, beaches and creeks of Santa Barbara County. These were places he explored as a child, thanks to a local nonprofit called the Wilderness Youth Project<\/a> (WYP). Serving kids as young as 3 and into high school, WYP is considered an early pioneer of an educational approach that\u2019s now gaining acclaim nationwide.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s such a good alternative to staring at a phone, computer or tablet screen. Instead, let\u2019s go outside, build a fort, learn how to make fire with two sticks and build a water filtration system,\u201d Diloia said.<\/p>\n

When he was in the first grade, his parents enrolled him in the WYP, which was at that time an after-school program. They immediately noticed it made a difference for their son, who struggled with dyslexia and ADHD.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the grounding areas of his early life was the Wilderness Youth Project and their ability to bring him out into the wilderness and outside of his head,\u201d said Tony Diloia, Rowan\u2019s father.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of after-school (programs) my parents tried didn\u2019t really work for me,\u201d Diloia said. \u201cMost were a little too structured. But to be able to do my own thing at Wilderness Youth, go out in the dirt and climb trees, really helped.\u201d<\/p>\n

When he entered high school, Diloia was accepted to the Visual Arts & Design Academy at Santa Barbara High School.\u00a0 He is now a senior at California College of the Arts in San Francisco, where he is studying furniture design. He recently won a prestigious national award from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., for his functional art.<\/p>\n

Diloia said that his artistic creations featuring wood and metal are influenced by the shapes, patterns and colors found outdoors, which he experienced joyfully as part of WYP after-school outings and campouts.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most important part is just being outside and being able to learn in ways you wouldn\u2019t be able to learn in the classroom,\u201d he said. \u201cI expect that 95 percent of kids these days aren\u2019t experiencing what Wilderness Youth has to offer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now incorporated into part of the regular school day at five South Coast public schools and two private schools, WYP has gained traction as parents, teachers and funders see it making a difference in students\u2019 lives. Yardi has supported the WYP with grant funding through the Yardi Foundation.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause there is a shift in educational trends, people really understand now that experiential time in nature supports learning, and not just science learning,\u201d said Michelle Howard, WYP\u2019s Development Director. \u201cThere is a huge contribution that this is making to students\u2019 English language learning and language arts skills.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once a month, students participating in the program get to spend a chunk of their school day with WYP mentors and volunteers. The outings are spread between Rincon and the Gaviota Tunnel and inland to the Santa Ynez River. Goleta Beach, La Cumbre Peak, White Rock on Paradise Road, and Tucker\u2019s Grove County Park are frequent destinations.<\/p>\n

Tag along on a WYP program and you won\u2019t find the young naturalists lugging notebooks out on the trails. You will find them climbing trees, looking at animal tracks, and watching waves, skies and sunsets. Learning games that promote observation, exploration and appreciation of the natural world are the curriculum. A low mentor-to-student ratio, 1:4, keeps everyone safe.\"\"<\/p>\n

Andrew Lindsey, who directs WYP\u2019s school-based programs, grew up in rural Vermont. His own childhood was rooted in outdoor time, and he later wrote a master\u2019s thesis about why the natural world wasn\u2019t used more effectively as a place to learn about the environment.<\/p>\n

When he moved to Santa Barbara, Lindsey found that he and his infant daughter Haven were often running into groups from WYP at local parks and trails. He connected with early advocates for the program, including current Executive Director Dan Fontaine, and became passionate about getting local kids outside.<\/p>\n

Lindsey\u2019s approach to wilderness education is not to lecture, but to be there in the moment as the students are noticing and discovering new things.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you hear them saying \u2018Look what I found,\u2019 or \u2018I made this\u2019 or \u2018Look over here!\u2019 .. there is this unbelievable pride and excitement in the things they are capable of doing as learners,\u201d Lindsey said. It\u2019s that joy of independent discovery that might never be duplicated in a more controlled classroom environment.<\/p>\n

Diloia confirms that it was that experience of self-discovery that made the WYP experience really stick with him as a child \u2013 enough so that he came back to volunteer with the program for two years as a teen. He helped out with the Chickadees, who are among the youngest of the program\u2019s participants.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the happiest I\u2019ve ever seen any kid ever,\u201d he explained. \u201cCompare something like soccer to going out into nature, playing in mud, getting dirty, climbing trees, and seeing birds. I just saw pure joy in the kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lindsey notes that while WYP knows they can never supplant the classroom, there is an overarching goal of the program that has tremendous value. \u201cOur end goal is that kids have the opportunity to develop a relationship with outside that they benefit from, in health and wellness, and the world benefits from, in care and stewardship,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

As a parent, Tony Diloia believes that the more pervasive technology becomes, the more important programs like WYP will be.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s essential to give your child opportunities to spend time outdoors, either with yourself or a program or both. It really diminishes the electronic distractions at a young age, and opens their eyes to the greater world that\u2019s out there. In my opinion, it creates an energy and connectivity to nature that they can carry with them throughout their lives,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Michelle Howard notes that in 2018, the program plans to expand by 12 percent, adding an additional 120 students to the 1,000 it served in 2017. All expansion of WYP is privately financed, either through grants or individual donors.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do dream that one day the program is so compelling that the schools and districts will start putting it into their budgets, but we\u2019re not there yet,\u201d Howard said.<\/p>\n

Learn more about the Wilderness Youth Project at www.wyp.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For Rowan Diloia, the key to childhood learning wasn\u2019t in a classroom or in the pages of a book. It was outside, in the mountains, beaches and creeks of Santa Barbara County. These were places he explored as a child, thanks to a local nonprofit called the Wilderness Youth Project (WYP). Serving kids as young […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":413,"featured_media":19302,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_s2mail":"yes","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1717,3354],"tags":[2236,77,87,839,2091],"class_list":["post-19301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-giving","category-team-yardi","tag-energzed-for-good","tag-non-profit","tag-philanthropy","tag-santa-barbara","tag-yardi-gives-back"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nYardi Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For Rowan Diloia, the key to childhood learning wasn\u2019t in a classroom or in the pages of a book. It was outside, in the mountains, beaches and creeks of\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Opting Outside\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For Rowan Diloia, the key to childhood learning wasn\u2019t in a classroom or in the pages of a book. It was outside, in the mountains, beaches and creeks of\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/opting-outside\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Yardi Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-01-09T13:00:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-02-03T22:54:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2017\/12\/WYP2.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"444\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"332\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Leah Etling\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Leah Etling\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/opting-outside\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/opting-outside\/\",\"name\":\"Opting Outside - Yardi Corporate Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/opting-outside\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/opting-outside\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2017\/12\/WYP2.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-01-09T13:00:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-02-03T22:54:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/81b16a7aea318dbdaaa0a17b776a0c52\"},\"description\":\"For Rowan Diloia, the key to childhood learning wasn\u2019t in a classroom or in the pages of a book. It was outside, in the mountains, beaches and creeks of\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/opting-outside\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/opting-outside\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/opting-outside\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2017\/12\/WYP2.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2017\/12\/WYP2.png\",\"width\":444,\"height\":332},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/opting-outside\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Opting Outside\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Yardi Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/81b16a7aea318dbdaaa0a17b776a0c52\",\"name\":\"Leah Etling\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9fa1e69f4f920593cfa724d25dc7da5cb96fac8a5a1a39b01b0d456d468ed3af?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9fa1e69f4f920593cfa724d25dc7da5cb96fac8a5a1a39b01b0d456d468ed3af?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Leah Etling\"},\"description\":\"Leah Etling is the founding editor of the Balance Sheet and a 12-year Yardi employee who also oversees press releases and social media. An award winning journalist, she holds a master's degree from UC Berkeley and is a native of Santa Barbara County, Yardi's home.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/author\/leah-etling\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Yardi Blog","description":"For Rowan Diloia, the key to childhood learning wasn\u2019t in a classroom or in the pages of a book. It was outside, in the mountains, beaches and creeks of","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Opting Outside","og_description":"For Rowan Diloia, the key to childhood learning wasn\u2019t in a classroom or in the pages of a book. It was outside, in the mountains, beaches and creeks of","og_url":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/opting-outside\/","og_site_name":"Yardi Blog","article_published_time":"2018-01-09T13:00:26+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-02-03T22:54:46+00:00","og_image":[{"width":444,"height":332,"url":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2017\/12\/WYP2.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Leah Etling","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Leah Etling","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/opting-outside\/","url":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/opting-outside\/","name":"Opting Outside - Yardi Corporate Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/opting-outside\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/opting-outside\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2017\/12\/WYP2.png","datePublished":"2018-01-09T13:00:26+00:00","dateModified":"2021-02-03T22:54:46+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/81b16a7aea318dbdaaa0a17b776a0c52"},"description":"For Rowan Diloia, the key to childhood learning wasn\u2019t in a classroom or in the pages of a book. It was outside, in the mountains, beaches and creeks of","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/opting-outside\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/opting-outside\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/opting-outside\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2017\/12\/WYP2.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2017\/12\/WYP2.png","width":444,"height":332},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/opting-outside\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Opting Outside"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/","name":"Yardi Blog","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/81b16a7aea318dbdaaa0a17b776a0c52","name":"Leah Etling","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9fa1e69f4f920593cfa724d25dc7da5cb96fac8a5a1a39b01b0d456d468ed3af?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9fa1e69f4f920593cfa724d25dc7da5cb96fac8a5a1a39b01b0d456d468ed3af?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Leah Etling"},"description":"Leah Etling is the founding editor of the Balance Sheet and a 12-year Yardi employee who also oversees press releases and social media. An award winning journalist, she holds a master's degree from UC Berkeley and is a native of Santa Barbara County, Yardi's home.","url":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/author\/leah-etling\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2017\/12\/WYP2.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/413"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19301"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19301\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26471,"href":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19301\/revisions\/26471"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}