Testimonials
Community-Based Learning
Blue Dot’s difference lies in the people and the process. Our confounders are career educators supporting powerful, learner-driven experiences. Blue Dot’s programs are rooted in place, guided by curiosity, and shaped by the participants themselves. It’s how we approach learning, and who’s there to support it, that sets us apart.
In just the last three years, we have led more than 200 outdoor learning experiences that have served more than 10,000 community members; young people alongside their educators and family members.
Blue Dot Education is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization based in San Diego. Our team also provides a variety of fee-based professional services to districts, schools, communities, and organizations through our for-profit consulting operation, which donates 10% of its revenues each year to support our nonprofit programs.
At Blue Dot, we believe in something different: Nature is our first—and best—teacher.
Blue Dot Education’s mission is to cultivate the next generation of environmental stewards by uplifting underresourced communities, strengthening understanding of Earth’s ecosystems, and fostering deep personal connections to the natural world.
We’ve seen that when people experience joy in a place, they fall in love with it, and when someone loves a place they want to take care of it.
Real learning happens when students do real things in real-world contexts.
Our nature-based educational programs engage students in ecosystem exploration, field observations, scientific research, habitat restoration, nature photography, and drone videography during outdoor adventures that include activities such as astronomy, tide pool exploration, hiking, stand-up paddle boarding, rock climbing, surfing, camping, and snorkeling.
Our project-based, in-classroom programs engage students in skateboard engineering, high altitude balloon launches, rocketry, media and music production, jewelry crafting, popsicle stick laboratories, drone engineering, and overnight astrophotography.
Our Values
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Considering the needs, values, backgrounds, and aspirations of young people and communities to create experiences that work for them.
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Removing the financial, geographic, educational, and systemic barriers that prevent under-resourced communities from accessing the outdoors.
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Supporting young people to develop the confidence, habits of mind, and personal agency that help them thrive in adult life.
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Embracing communities as they are, demonstrating respect, and showing young people they are deserving of care and success.
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Ensuring that every young person and community member feels physically and emotionally safe.
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Bringing together young people and adults to learn and grow together.
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Centering the principles of environmental care, respect, and stewardship in everything we do.
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Recognizing the profound ways nature restores, grounds, and reminds us that we are part of something greater.
Our Team
Our team is a community; an ecosystem too grand to name as individuals. Among us, the cofounders are longtime educators with deep roots in project-based and nature-based learning, bringing over 65 years of combined experience in teaching, school leadership, and instructional design…much of it shaped at San Diego’s High Tech High.
Together, we bring an eclectic mix of experience and perspective—PhDs and lifeguards, school administrators and scientists, rock climbers and classroom teachers.
We share a love of learning, nature, and community. We love what we do, and we believe everyone deserves a meaningful connection to the very things that brought us together.
Our Partners
At its core, Blue Dot Education is a community-building project. We believe in forming deep, lasting relationships with dedicated partners who, like us, see this work as a deeply human endeavor. While our mission grounds everything we do, we know strong relationships are essential to doing the work well.
