Thanking Our Donors for Planting the Roots of Birthright America

When it came time for Birthright America to create donor recognition societies, it seemed only natural to turn to the many exotic and impressive trees found in America's national forests and parks to find inspiration for the names of those societies.

I turned first to my own memories (and photographs) of my family's visits to Washington and California...

Then we researched some of the most rare and impressive trees that can be found in America's national forests, preserves and parks to select the names for the rest of the societies.   Since Birthright America was founded in Florida, with many of our initial donors coming from this state, it also seemed appropriate to have the Mangrove Society represent those early supporters.

Birthright America eventually plans to take students to parks all around the country, so we wanted to be sure to represent trees from a wide variety of places throughout America, so you will find trees found near volcanoes in Hawaii and from a preserve in South Carolina among our named societies.

Finally, since part of our mission is to educate students while providing them with the opportunity to explore their national parks, the chance to provide some interesting facts and information to Birthright America's donors was the final factor considered when selecting each name.

So, without any further ado, a look at the trees inspiring the donor recognition societies:

Mangrove Society: 

Known for offering the first line of protection during a hurricane, mangroves can be found throughout Florida, especially in Everglades National Park.

Sitka Spruce Society:

The staggering Sitka Spruce trees love the damp and mild climate of the Pacific Northwest, making the Hoh Rain Forest the perfect home for them.

'Ohi'a Society:

The 'Ohi'a Lehua (pronunciation can be found here) tree has particular importance in Hawaii and has recently become vulnerable to a fast spreading disease in the past few years.

Education is essential in helping to protect these colorful trees that are usually the first to grow on new lava flows.

Laurel Oaks Society:

Congaree National Preserve is the home of many champions, the largest known tree of its species, including the Laurel Oak.

Lodgepole Pines Society:  

The most common tree found in Yellowstone National Park, the destination for Birthright America's inaugural trip in June of 2018, the lodgepole pine thrives in the sun.

Bristlecone Pines Society:

Considered among the oldest trees on earth, the ones found in Great Basin National Park in Nevada are over 3,000 years old!

Sequoias Society:

Our trip to Yosemite and the iconic California "tunnel tree," in Mariposa Grove, home to the 1800 year old Grizzly Giant, among hundreds of sequoias, made a lasting impression.

Redwoods Society: 

Long considered the most awe-inspiring of the many trees found in national forests, the Redwood can be damaged by "too much love."  Still, appreciating this majestic tree in a way that also preserves it is an experience to be treasured.

Here's to the many donors who are planting the roots that will enable Birthright America to grow and flourish.  Donor Recognition Societies are just one way we can show our gratitude, which is as immense as a champion sequoia.

The Gift of Travel

First, a very Happy Holidays from Birthright America!

If you have read about how and why Birthright America was founded, it will come as no surprise that the image serving as the  picture for our first holiday postcard comes from my family's first trip to Yellowstone and a moment that crystallized for me why the national parks must be shared with all.

Yes, there are certain lands in this country that are protected as public lands, yet that does not mean that they are equally accessible to all the public.  Creating an organization that would make its mission to insure that all America's children can explore their national parks was a dream born as I watched my Floridian children play in the snow, off Beartooth Highway, that June afternoon so many years ago, when Yellowstone in the summer became an impromptu winter wonderland.

Now that we are thick into the planning of Birthright America's inaugural trip to Yellowstone and Grand Teton this coming June of 2018, we are also deep into the fundraising phase.  This morning we received a generous donation from Pediatric Associates, an association of pediatricians that has been serving Florida since I was their patient many decades ago.  My own children have been their patients for the past two decades.

Receiving donations from friends, family, colleagues and professional associates is gratifying beyond measure.  Since nonprofits traditionally have difficulty securing grants during their first couple of years, the philanthropy of individuals and the support and sponsorship of companies becomes the fuel that enables nonprofits to thrive until they can successfully procure grant money in subsequent years.  Therefore, the support of companies such as Pediatric Associates will enable a student who otherwise would not have been able to explore Yellowstone National Park the opportunity to do so.

As you light the candles on the menorah or the kinara, trim the Christmas tree, or celebrate the holiday season in myriad other ways, do consider making philanthropy a part of your holiday tradition.  The Miami Herald's Wish Book has been part of our family's philanthropic tradition for years.  This year, we will add donations to Breakthrough Miami and Birthright America.  

Whether you have supported the same nonprofit for a very long time, look to support new organizations that foster missions in which you deeply believe, or have never before thought to make a donation as part of your holiday giving tradition, perhaps this year you might imagine a young man or woman who has never ventured outside of Miami suddenly coming upon the staggering vistas in Yellowstone and Grand Teton.  What greater gift could you ever give?

Photograph of Grand Teton Range by Schwabacher Landing
by Cynthia Hori, science teacher and chaperone on Birthright America's inaugural trip

We thank you for your support and wish you a very happy holiday season and a joyous New Year!

Feeling Grateful on this #Thanksgiving Eve

On the eve of Thanksgiving, as the founder and president of Birthright America, I have much for which to be grateful.

From those who have discovered us on social media to friends and family to potential business partners, all have greeted - with support and enthusiasm - the idea of a non-profit company with a mission to ensure that all children can visit their national parks.  In just over two months, Birthright America went from a concept to a 501c3 nonprofit organization readying to accept its first applications and take its first group of students to Yellowstone and Grand Teton in the summer of 2018.

In this post, I would like to introduce you to two of our key partners, companies and people with whom I am very proud to associate Birthright America.

Rising 10th grade students from Breakthrough Miami will be Birthright America's first travelers.  Working with CEO Aubrina Mumford and Managing Program Director Lauren Kellner Rudolph to fine-tune the curriculum and partner on grant applications is an ongoing pleasure.  From my years at Miami Country Day, one of the five host sites where Breakthrough scholars take enrichment classes on Saturdays throughout the school year and during the summer, I know firsthand the great work they do.  Their 1200+ scholars take full advantage of Breakthrough's goal "to help our scholars 'break through' the social, cultural and economic barriers to high achievement."   Therefore, I am extremely grateful for the honor to provide some of those scholars with the opportunity to "break through" the barriers that keep so many from fully exploring our country's national parks.

To make this inaugural trip an extraordinary experience for our students, I reached out to Jeff Shulmin, Director of Putney Student Travel.  Jeff and I share the goal for our students to "be travelers, not tourists," so I knew Putney was the ideal partner for Birthright America.   Despite having their own robust slate of programs, in addition to noteworthy collaborations with National Geographic and The New York Times, Jeff and his team got right to work to create a meaningful  journey for Birthright America, one that will enable our scholars to live the curriculum they will have begun learning in the classroom this coming April.   For their expertise, their passion, and their collaboration, I am enormously grateful to the team at Putney Student Travel for helping to bring this trip to life.

On this Thanksgiving eve, through meaningful collaboration with some truly remarkable people, Birthright America is ready to make a profound difference in the lives of children.  For this I am enormously grateful.

The Craft of Creating Impactful Curriculum

In addition to providing the opportunity to travel to and explore the national parks, Birthright America will prepare its students to fully appreciate and enhance their experience through an ongoing classroom and distance learning component.  Experiential learning may be a buzz word in education these days, but for lifelong educators, it is the substance of most of the meaningful work we accomplish with students.

As an educator for twenty-five years, creating impactful curriculum is something I love to do.  Understanding what students will enjoy and how to translate that enjoyment to deep learning is my passion.  Therefore, creating the curriculum to accompany the students' first trip to Yellowstone and Grand Teton has been one of the most rewarding (and easiest) parts of getting this first trip planned.

Below are some of the contenders being considered.  In addition to studying excerpts from books and documentaries about the parks, students will study photography and science, historic documents and current events, as well as learn some practical tips about traveling they may not have known before.

Partnering with me in creating the curriculum is Cynthia Hori, a science teacher I have known since we worked together at Miami Country Day School.  Her ability to make students excited about science inside a classroom is dwarfed only by her own passion for experiential learning in the national parks.

Of course, there will be ample opportunities for additional lessons in health and physical education, as students go horseback riding, rafting and hiking through the parks.  

Needless to say, having a classroom without walls is one thing; having Yellowstone and Grand Teton as your classroom is something else entirely!  Most students are excited for the school year to end and summer vacation to begin.  Those lucky students who travel with us next June will be eager for the school year to end in order for the experiential learning to begin.

Books on all of the national parks...

Books on the Grand Canyon...

Books on Yellowstone...

Just for fun...

If you are familiar with any of the books featured here, or have other suggestions you would like to share, please leave a comment below or contact me through the website.  

As the detailed itinerary for the trip is finalized, we will share that planning process here as well.  In the classroom next May and throughout the trip, the students will share their questions and insights, which will be shared with you all.

Through this blog, I hope that labels such as experiential and distance learning become concepts that the non-educator comes to understand and appreciate.  Tying the traditional work of classroom learning to the 21st century educational expectations of getting students out of the classroom, effectively using technology as a tool, to become creative and critical thinkers, entrepreneurs and innovators, is as much Birthright America's goal as the mission of providing these students with the opportunity to visit their National Parks.   

Thank you for your ongoing interest and support.  To make a profound difference in a child's life, you can donate here.

#NotEven1 Child Should Be Denied His Birthright

Last week was Teddy Roosevelt's birthday, so it was only fitting that there was a lot of discussion and debate about the 2018 budget proposal to cut nearly 400 million dollars from the National Park budget and the proposed increase to the entrance fees of seventeen of the most frequently visited parks.  On Twitter, some users expressed their dismay that the increase in entrance fees to $70 per private vehicle or $30 per person would likely make it difficult for some middle class families to visit the parks. 

The #NotEven1 hashtag, which is used for multiple purposes on Twitter, was adopted by some to protest that not even one person or family should be kept from visiting the parks by these steep entrance fees.  On October 26, a day before Roosevelt's birthday, The Washington Post published an article about the controversy.  In it, a link to the open comment period, which closes on November 23rd, was shared.  Many nature loving groups are encouraging their members to write comments expressing their concern that the higher entrance fees will deter potential visitors with limited funds from enjoying the parks.

All this discussion brings me to my post today.  While I concur that increasing the entrance fees will certainly have a detrimental impact on some family's ability to visit the parks, I am surprised by the lack of recognition of just how many American families are already denied their birthright.  In order to arrive at the gates to a Yellowstone, a Grand Teton, or an Arches National Park (three of those 17 which will see an increased entrance fee), one must have often already traveled a great distance -- and invested a good deal of money -- into that endeavor.  A family that is financially disadvantaged might not have a car that is safe for a long road trip, let alone money for frequent stops to fill up the tank along the way or for the motel stays that will be required before they have reached the National Park to which they are heading.  

Yellowstone National Park

Grand Teton National Park

Arches National Park

If a long car trip is out of the question, whether because their car is unsafe or because they are unable to get the time off from work that would enable them to spend so many days on the road traveling to and from their destination, they are also unlikely to have the means to purchase plane tickets and rent a car once they've arrived at the airport closest to their ultimate destination.  

In short, the entrance fee is only the final obstacle in a long list of them that makes it quite difficult for children from financially disadvantaged families to ever visit a National Park, despite the fact that they live in a country where Teddy Roosevelt wanted these lands to be the gift for all of the public to experience.  #NotEven1 becomes the hashtag to describe their lack of opportunity to visit a single National Park.

Birthright America was created to help close this gap, to help ensure that all of America's children can visit their National Parks.  Yes, the increased entrance fees will provide yet another obstacle to fulfill this mission, but it is just another obstacle.  

Help ensure that all of America's children can visit their National Parks

Do add your comments to the National Park Service website by November 23rd, but also think about those for whom the entrance fees are not the only reason they are unable to visit the parks.  Consider marking your calendar for #GivingTuesday on November 28th.  Your support of Birthright America provides ALL children with the opportunity to visit a National Park, regardless of its entrance fee.

A Single Step

And so it begins...

Lao Tzu tells us that "A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step."  Certainly this is so.  With the formation of the Birthright America, Inc. approved in the State of Florida, the application for non-profit status as a 5019(c)(3) underway, the logo beautifully created by my daughter, Madison, and the first donation received, I am now several steps into this long journey.

As I briefly detail in the "Genesis" section of the website, I first imagined a foundation such as this one many years ago.  Perhaps that initial spark and thought was the true first step?  As I've embarked on creating the website, planning my pitch to potential sponsors and donors, and putting all of the logistics into place, I have found myself reflecting on what makes a person likely to want to donate to a cause such as this one.

My hope - and belief - is that many of us want for all of America's children what we want for our own and that we realize that by providing the next generation with opportunities to learn and flourish, we are investing in a future far more grand than the world we have thus far known.

Yes, I want the country's children to have the chance to experience the physical beauty of America's National Parks, but I also believe that having partaken of such experiences will make them more able and likely to be agents for positive change in the future.  "Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind," says Seneca. 

Just imagine what these children will become.  How their experiences with Birthright America will transform them in their formative years.  Certainly, a thousand mile journey will take time, but when it is as worthwhile as this endeavor, one must begin with that first single step.

Welcome to the Birthright America blog.  We are happy to have you as a companion on this journey.