LETTER FROM OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND BOARD PRESIDENT

To our loyal Blue Sky supporters, 

They say that “life begins at the end of your comfort zone” and we can safely say that the adventures of 2020 pushed our community well beyond the limits. Like you, we’ve done our best to navigate the challenging terrain, discover alternative paths to serve our students, and ultimately embrace this wild journey.

COVID-19 has affected everyone, but it has especially impacted our students and shone a spotlight on the ever-widening equity gap, particularly in education. Most of our students are youth of color living at a poverty rate three times higher than the Virginia average. Virtual learning, which our students will have experienced for at least 18 months, requires students to spend 4-6 hours in front of a computer screen each day; if there was ever a need for kids to get outside, it is now. Over the past year, we’ve changed directions and found new inventive paths to continue providing our students with experiential outdoor education resources. These tools encourage kids, and their families, to step outside and get a proverbial “breath of fresh air” while also connecting with the restorative power of nature.

This school year, we converted our in-person science curriculum into interactive virtual lessons and physical science kits that are aligned with the Virginia Standards of Learning and designed to complement concepts taught in Richmond Public Schools’ online classrooms. We also started to get youth back outside through modified versions of our outdoor adventure programs. These in-person interactions have been happening on a smaller scale with appropriate precautions but have still been incredibly life-giving for participants and staff alike.

This pandemic has called on all of us to adapt and establish new habits that will enable us to emerge from it healthy – not just physically, but mentally, emotionally, and socially healthy as well. We’ve always believed in the power of outdoor experiences to improve a person’s overall well-being, but also know that not everyone has the same access to nature. No matter what the future holds, we want every child in our city to benefit from being outside and learning about the world around us.

With your support, Blue Sky forged new trails to impact Richmond’s youth of color by providing outdoor learning experiences that enhanced their at-home education and promoted the benefits of recharging in nature. Together, we can help Richmond’s future generations grow into bright and resilient individuals, now and long into the future.