TREE, Teens Reconnecting to Earth Experiences or Teens Restoring Earth's Environment, is a network of outdoor & ecology clubs at K-12 public and private schools. TREE has three major goals: (1) to get young people outdoors to learn and play, especially those who don't normally go outside, (2) to empower students to conduct sustainability audits on their school campuses, and (3) to provide opportunities for students to volunteer their time on behalf of a wide variety of service related projects. 
    The driving force behind TREE's success has been its simple approach of providing opportunities for high school students to directly facilitate meaningful experiences for junior high and elementary students.  This arrangement gives high school students valuable leadership experience and motivates younger students to participate because they look up to and can relate to their high school mentors.  Students are encouraged to participate in Campfire Connections, Outside Days, EcoCaching, energy-efficiency audits at schools, and hikes, snowshoeing, research, habitat restoration, rock climbing, tree plantings, clean-ups, etc.  These "earth experiences," give students confidence, leadership skills, exercise, playtime with friends and valuable additions to their resumes and college applications. They also help students realize that they can indeed make a difference.



   TREE began as a single outdoor club at Jerome High School by Dick Jordan and his students in 1990.  This original TREE Club was very active both locally & internationally and soon other clubs joined on as additional "Branches."  TREE  continues to branch out and get more students outdoors and involved in a multitude of activities.  Mr. Jordan currently teaches AP Environmental Science at Timberline High School in Boise, Idaho and serves as advisor to Timberline's TREE Club. 

   TREE is part of Mr. Jordan's major program called LifeOutdoors which coordinates several projects:  (1) Outside Day, an all day event where high school students mentor elementary students to become much more connected to nature and outdoor activities, (2) Talking Out, a podcast which showcases exceptional outdoor places and the people who love them, (3) Campfire Connections, are fun-filled family oriented outdoor events which allow experts & enthusiasts to share there outdoor passions, (4) EcoCaching, an outdoor scavenger game where students use smartphones to figure out clues in order to progress to the next "stop" and complete the informative route, and (5) SummitOutside's various summer adventure trips, i.e. international field trips to Belize, Ecuador, Costa Rica, etc. and whitewater rafting trips on the Payette and Salmon River in Central Idaho with our sister organization, Wild Science Explorers.

"Branches," or TREE's clubs, may be formed from existing outdoor/ecology/earth/environmental clubs, or they may be introduced by anyone, (student, parent, teacher or individual from the community), who wants to start a Branch at their K-12 school. TREE is the only grassroots organization where Branches decide their own leadership, activities and finances.  Teacher/advisors play a pivotal role in the success of Branches because they provide the motivation, clearance and access to resources for the group's various activities.  "Elders" are community volunteers, (i.e. natural resource professionals, retired educators, business leaders, etc.), who adopt a TREE Branch and to help advisors coordinate outdoor opportunities and conduct school audits.  Elders have the experience, expertise and community relationships so students can connect to the SOIL, or Social Organizations that Invest in Learning.