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How to Adapt my Plan to Outdoor Education?

I know what I want;
I want all the "paper benefits" (a major reason why I chose the teacher route) as I call them, I want to work away from the cities & have the space to just breathe (a deciding factor on why I'm currently working towards being a seasonal forest ranger in WA or OR), & I want to earn above the costs of living so I can afford to build personal gardens, library/collections, go camping & on long drives, etc. Knowing this is what I want &/or need personally helps me filter out a metric ton of options.

How I'm currently working towards that;
I'm enrolled in Job Corps of the PNW. I came here for the forestry experience & to network with Forestry Services when possible. I'll be working here for hopefully two years, so that I'll be qualified to be an entry-level forest ranger in WA & OR. I'm also redeveolping many soft skills & rebuilding my character while I'm here. After I've completed my two years here, I'm going to a community college in WA or OR for an AAS in Early Childhood Education so I'll be a teacher during the school year, & a forest ranger in the summers. This way I can be paid to live in the woods & work in nature. Ideally, I'll work or apprientice in the forestry-niche through college to maintain knowledge/skills & currency.

If I enter Outdoor Education & stay for a career, I want to have the 40hr-week, "paper benifets," & still have the occasional vaccation for my camping time. Ideally, I'll want to work in an outdoor school, with similar school-breaks as public schools do, but I've no idea what the mimimual requirements for that generally is, & I'm unwilling to do an actual bacholor's unless it's within my industry that I've stayed in & require further education to advance in.

career college education early-childhood-education forestry outdoors urban-forestry earlychildhoodeducation
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Ramesis’s Answer

You can do that if the school you're enrolled with is offering a modular education where you can simply multi-task your outdoor activities while learning and finishing your chosen degree at the same time because you can take you're subject modules with you anywhere.
Thank you comment icon That's definitely something I'll take into consideration, thank you bunches! Atlantis
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Martha’s Answer

I commend you for thinking through your career aspirations so carefully, Atlantis. Below are some references I found for how to prepare for that career. It seems that a college education would not hurt, but may not be necessary.

I also wanted to talk with you about potential jobs. You don't have to work for an outdoor school to have the lifestyle you want. A good friend of mine is the director of the outdoor education program at a university. So he gets all the "paper benefits" but also gets to lead trips for students and alumni. I bet many colleges/universities have similar roles.

Also, my local arboretum has at least one educator to conduct workshops with adults, general education about gardening, and running the summer camp for children. My city has about 125,000 residents so I would guess that those of the same size or larger would have similar roles. I did a search of outdoor education jobs in the Pacific Northwest and got over 200 hits. At a quick glance, a bunch did not seem like a good fit, but you only need one job at a time. Setting up a job agent might give you a good idea of what is available and what qualifications you may need.

Good luck!

Martha recommends the following next steps:

Wilderness Education Association - https://www.weainfo.org/coe#:~:text=The%20WEA%20Certified%20Outdoor%20Educator,Training%20within%20an%20outdoor%20program.
Outward Bound - https://outwardbound.org/blog/the-best-way-to-become-an-outdoor-educator/
NCOAE - https://ncoae.org/blog/how-to-become-an-outdoor-educator-and-work-in-the-backcountry/
indeed.com jobs - https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=Outdoor+Education&l=Pacific+Northwest&from=mobRdr&utm_source=%2Fm%2F&utm_medium=redir&utm_campaign=dt&vjk=f2e11fff1d62196b
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