Class Leaders
Breanna
I teach Tuesday mornings at 10:30am and Saturday mornings at 10:30am at Noblitt Park and Youth Camp in Columbus!
Hi! I'm Breanna. I’m wife to my husband, Lee, and mom to two beautiful children. I have a background in education and a passionate love for nature. Our family loves the outdoors, where we can run, play, and be our wild selves. When the pandemic started, I began loosely homeschooling our son, who was 3 at the time. I purchased books that included nature-based learning activities. The activities were engaging and that gave me the idea to invite friends to work through them with us! That group of friends blossomed into Nature Explorers Club. Nature Explorers Club has been such a wonderful experience and I’m beyond excited to continue it and watch it grow. I’m so happy you are all here! I have a passion for teaching young children, spending time outdoors, and continuous learning. Here I get to do all that!
Reach me at breanna.mynatureclub@gmail.com
Maranda
I teach Monday evenings at 5:00pm at Noblitt Park in Columbus.
My name is Maranda. I’m married to Kyle and we have 3 children. We live on 5.5 acres in Brown County and have 1 dog, 3 cats, and 2 bunnies ( and we’ll probably have ducks and chickens soon too!). As a family, we love spending time outdoors hiking, camping, and really any outdoor adventure. Pre kids, I was an elementary school teacher at a school in Indianapolis. While I loved teaching, I quickly realized that I didn’t want to teach in a traditional classroom. So I went back to school and earned a degree in environmental science/ecology. I got a job at a national wildlife refuge where I led environmental education programs for people of all ages. I became a stay at home mom when my son was born. After my first daughter was born, a couple of my friends and I started a local chapter of Free Forest School. Free Forest School is an organization that promotes unstructured, child-led outdoor play by hosting regular meetups across the country. I facilitated meet ups until the start of the pandemic. My family has been involved in Nature Explorers Club since it’s beginning. It’s been a wonderful experience, learning about nature and connecting with other families that love the outdoors as much as we do. It’s been neat to see the club grow and evolve! In my spare time, I enjoy reading, gardening, hiking, biking, drinking copious amounts of coffee, and cooking. I’m a vegetarian and am always trying to make recipes that even my meat eating family will love. We are also a homeschooling family. I’m so excited for this opportunity to teach and I can’t wait to explore nature with you!
Reach me at maranda.mynatureclub@gmail.com
Andrea
I teach the babies group at 10 am on Fridays at Mill Race Park in Columbus.
Hello All! I am excited to introduce myself as your Columbus leader for Nature Babies!
My name is Andrea, I am a mom to 4 great kids married to my husband, Sam. We live a busy life with lots of love and a touch of chaos.
We’ve been members of Nature Explorers Club since day one. I have also participated in and led other outdoor education classes before Breanna created it! You’ll likely spend class with my youngest who has been a Nature Explorer since birth.
I’m passionate about the impact of outdoor education on little minds and it all starts through play as babies. I look forward to getting to know all of you and helping your babies grow and learn!
Reach me at Andrea.mynatureclub@gmail.com
Bre
I teach mixed age classes.
Hello! I am Bre. My husband, Billy, and I are high school sweethearts and have been married for 7 years.
We have 2 kiddos!
Claire is my social butterfly! She is full of energy. She wants to be dressed up fancy, but she also better have her bug catcher on hand.
Korbyn is more introverted but is a really silly dude. He's the best lightning bug catcher on this side of the Mississippi!
We have a cat named Salem, a dog named Oz, and are currently raising tree frogs.
I became a stay-at-home mom when my daughter was born. It was very important to me at the beginning to get outside each day just to break our usual routine. This quickly snowballed into going on hikes and finding outdoor adventures. I then saw Breanna's post in a local Facebook group about a nature class she had.
We joined Nature Explorers in the hopes of finding something that really spoke to us. We were not disappointed! We all 3 absolutely adored Breanna's class and all the love and dedication she puts into these classes. We learned, we played, and we felt welcomed.
I am beyond excited that I have been given the opportunity to continue enjoying nature while hopefully giving families the same feelings we experience. I truly believe teaching our kids about the world they live in and how to treat it is so important. The appreciation for nature will only continue to grow, and we might be raising the next Planet Savers! I truly can not wait to get started and grow our nature village!
Reach me at bre.mynatureclub@gmail.com
Whitley
I teach the mixed ages class in Brown County
My name is Whitley! I teach the Brown County class. My family just built a cabin on multiple acres here. My partner, Ian, and I have one daughter, Iris. She blooms in nature and that’s what inspired me to be here. Her love of nature grew into a love of the outdoors we shared together. My background is in early childhood education and I’m so excited to share that knowledge and experience in a new way, outside the confines of a traditional classroom.
We just started our homeschool journey this year and are loving all the freedom it is offering for us to do the things that really matter to us, being a part of the Nature Explorers Club included!
In my free time, I enjoy reading, trips to my favorite local tea shop with my daughter, walks with my dog, and collecting unique plants.
Reach me at Whitley.mynatureclub@gmail.com
Morgan
I teach classes in Bloomington
Hi everybody! My name is Morgan and I am so excited to lead Nature Babies and Nature Explorers Club!
My daughter, Kairi, and I began in Nature Babies as explorers! We have loved the experience so much. I am a stay at home mom that loves to get my kiddo out and about as much as possible. I love leading classes with littles and making it as much fun as I possibly can. I love being outside with nature and love being able to teach small minds new things. I look forward to leading!
Reach me at Morgan1.mynatureclub@gmail.com