Rooted in Connection & Community Conference Fall 2025
Washington's Outdoor, Environmental, and Sustainability Educators' 2025 Conference:
Rooted in Connection & Community
November 14-16, 2025 at Cispus Learning Center 2142 Cispus Rd, Randle, WA, 98377 Randle, WA. | (360) 497-7131
E3 Washington is hosting a gathering for all outdoor, environmental, and sustainability educators this fall. This will be an in-person event, with lots of space for people to stay in cabins, camp, or attend for a day. Register by November 3, 2025.
$250 for E3 Washington Members
$300 for Non-Members
*Registration includes all meals and two nights of lodging at Cispus Learning Center in addition to all conference sessions and speakers. Sleeping arrangements are in dorm-style cabins with the option of staying in a gender neutral, female or male dorm. Cabins and camping are also available by emailing buffington@cispus.org.
Learn more about Cispus Learning Center here.
$150 Saturday Only Option - meals included, no lodging
Scholarships are Available (limited number / first come, first served), please contact Courtney@e3washington.org.
*Support the Rooted in Connection & Community Conference by becoming a sponsor today and your logo will appear here.
Sponsor the in-person conference at Cispus Learning Center and receive these benefits:
Temperate Rainforest Level - $100
- Logo on event website and conference emails - Resource fair tabling space
Estuary Level - $250
- Everything above, and
- Logo on welcome slides
- Logo and recognition during the live conference and through social media
Prairie Level - $500
- Everything above, and
- Registration fee for one participant waived
Shrub-Steppe Level - $1,000+
- Everything above, and
- Registration fee for a second participant waived
- Verbal promotion in the plenary session
Hweqwidi Hanford McCloud
of the Nisqually Indian Tribe
E3 WA is pleased to host our featured speaker for Saturday of the Rooted in Connection & Community Conference, Hweqwidi Hanford McCloud of the Nisqually Indian Tribe.
🌱 Hanford is an enrolled member of the Nisqually Nation located in Lacey. Handford shares that his life's work and passion is practicing and teaching the culture and tradition of the Nisqually people. He teaches basket weaving and carving which includes gathering the cedar bark from the cedar tree. He also does informational and educational presentations of the Nisqually Salish people for Yelm and Thurston County schools and professional, private groups. He ultimately loves sharing his culture and history with the public.
We are incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to hear from Hanford at the Growing Together Conference in the fall of 2024, and again this year at our 2025 Rooted in Connection and Community Conference.
Rooted in Community:
A Collaborative Journey Through Art and Poetry (multi-day)
with Carrie & Jennifer
Join artist Carrie Ziegler and poet Jennifer Johnson for an immersive, evolving keynote experience that unfolds across the three days of the E3 Conference. Through live mural painting and community-generated poetry, this offering invites all attendees to contribute their voices—literally—to a co-created artwork inspired by the conference theme, Rooted in Community. The final mural and collective poem will be unveiled during closing remarks, offering a powerful, imperfect, and beautiful reflection of our shared learning, resilience, and interconnectedness.
🌱 Jennifer is a poet, swimmer, and lover of all things community. These passions form her core values of clean water and air for everyone. She works professionally as an Education and Outreach Specialist for Thurston County Public Health for the last few decades and helps her family care for a 10 acre organic farm and forest for the future.
🌱 Carrie harnesses the collective power of art to drive social and environmental transformation. Through her Art in Action initiatives, she collaborates with diverse partners—local governments, organizations, schools, and universities—to create multi-dimensional works that blend participant creativity with pressing societal issues. These projects inspire active engagement, bringing people together to create lasting change.
🌱 Mapping Community Connections with DNR’s New Tool with Clare Sobetski, Kelly Sullivan
🌱 2 Educators or 200? Involving Non-Educator Colleagues in Education Outreach with Rochelle Granour-Rood
🌱 EcoSchools US: collaborating with schools to foster a sustainable future with Courtney Sullivan
🌱 Resilience in Action: Growing Community in Challenging Times for Environmental Education with Phoebe Cross
🌱 Gus the Bus: A Nomadic Approach to Outdoor Learning with Curtis Ludwig
🌱 Growing Minds Outdoors: How to Build an Outdoor Education Program from the Ground Up with Valerie Mason
🌱 Creatively Expressing Climate Grief with Joan Green
🌱 Anticolonial mindfulness in environmental education: A framework for practice with Gaby Rivarde
🌱 Cultivating Connection: Practical Strategies for SEL in Outdoor Settings with Erin Simmons
🌱 Partnering with Parks: Growing your Nature Program on Public Land with Brooke Ahlegian-Pressly
🌱 Putting Indigenous Knowledge First to Reawaken Outdoor Ties to Place with Hannah Jones, Toni Jones, Serene Williams
🌱 Ways to Explore Outdoors with Roy Morris, Dr. Nancy Messmer
🌱 Better Together: Stronger Outdoor Schools with Shelley Barker, Roberta McFarlans, Cortney Suderman
🌱 Southwest Washington’s Outdoor Learning Model: Year-Long Collaboration for Learning with Jane Tesner Kleiner, Stacy Meyer, Emily Newman
🌱 Hey Nature Lady with Jane Howard
🌱 That’s Conservation!? Engaging Youth with Diverse Pathways to Conservation Careers with Kent Chapple
🌱 No Child Left Inside Panel Hosted by RCO with Beth Auerbach, Edison Velez
🌱 Digital Storytelling for Place-based Learning About Water with Kathy Chambliss
🌱 That’s Conservation!? Engaging Youth with Diverse Pathways to Conservation Careers with Kent Chapple
🌱 Building partnerships to create Rainshadow Outdoor Adventure Retreat (ROAR) with Stacey Coltrain
🌱 Empowerment and inclusion on climate action through gamification with Tammie Schrader
🌱 Funding, Policy, Advocacy with Beth Auerbach, Jacqueline Reyes, Greg Barker
🌱 Using CLEARING Journal As a Teaching Resource with Larry Beutler
🌱 Building and Sustaining a Diverse Staff with Meredith Von Trapp
🌱 Shared Streams, Shared Learning with Drew Trogstad-Isaacson, Alison Crowley, Sara Harris
🌱 Culture Shifts Toward Equity in Conservation and Outdoor Recreation with Rianne BeCraft
Alert: On Google Maps, road NF-23 says it is closed in winter. This does not affect the road to Cispus. They are referring to the road 25 miles up into the mountains, and not the road NF-23 which is 8 miles in where you take a right toward Cispus (1200 ft elevation). We have confirmed that the path is clear and you can ignore the NF-23 road closed warning on Google Maps.
When to Arrive and Parking
Please arrive in time to check in to the conference from 12:30pm - 2:30pm, choose a cabin and unpack before our welcome at 2:30pm.
Lodging
After you register you can then go to your self-selected cabin. Sleeping arrangements are in dorm-style cabins with the option of staying in a gender neutral, women's or men's dorm. Cabins and camping are also available by emailing buffington@cispus.org.
Breakout Session Schedule
We plan to have breakout session sign-ups at the conference, and will email you when the conference schedule is finalized. We plan to have dozens of sessions to choose from over the three-day conference. There is so much to learn and try. Workshop themes include curriculum & pedagogy, administration & leadership, building an inclusive & equitable culture, and more.
Weather
Come prepared for changing weather. So far the weather outlook looks decent - in the 30’s-40’s with some rain Saturday and Sunday.
What to Expect
You can expect to have renewing and connecting time at this year's conference. There will be ample time for learning, activities, conversations and community building. You'll also have time to reflect, explore on your own and take time to yourself. Quiet hours are between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. Night owls can gather at the firepit or the cafeteria (which are far away from the cabins) to continue the party and socializing.
What to Bring
Please remember to bring your own linens and bathroom supplies. We'll email you a packing list once you register. Cispus has running hot water and toilet paper, the rest is the practice of preparations as they expect their young students to do when coming to camp.
Menu
We will email you a detailed menu two weeks before the conference. We will make substitutes for people who are vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, and dairy free. We will have options for those who have other food preferences. You are welcome to bring food and we do have storage space as well.
Enjoy browsing past conferences held by E3 Washington as you look forward to future conferences and events.
