Casa de SOL

Mountain SOL is an outdoor education school whose mission is to make the connection between kids and the land through education and action. Mountain SOL makes this connection by moving the classroom outside and letting nature guide the learning experience. Our programs are for all ages, Pre-K to adults, including in-school programs for Pre-K through eighth grade, afterschool programs for kids of all ages, weekly themed summer camp, and adult classes geared toward fitness and health.

Mountain Sol is expanding it's classroom to a new buiding on the campus of Morgantown Learning Academy, which is a small non-profit school located in Morgantown, WV. With a limited budget, and all volunteer staff, Mountain Sol is relying on community outreach to help make this new building a reality. The $3000 goal is money that will be used to repay a loan for the purchase of the building.

This building is so important for both Mountain SOL and the kids of north-central West Virginia. Having our own building will allow for more kids to participate in Mountain SOL outdoor learning programs, and will also be a huge asset for our teachers, who will use the building as an extension of both the school, and the wild outdoors. Giving the kids an opportunity to set up their own classroom is also a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Once we have donations in hand, our goal is to repay the Mountain SOL family that was so generous to give us this loan.

Mountain SOL's underlying drive is to incorporate social and environmental justice into it's teaching. These are not just lessons had outside. Problem solving, critical thinking, and character development are taught from the standpoint of equality, fairness, leadership, and environmental stewardship. MSol's has further legitmized this model of education by structuring it's classes to meet the state's COS (Content Standards and Objectives) critieria for science, grammar/reading, art, and social studies.

West Virginia's great outdoors is arguably it's best quality, but conversely, west Virginia's natural resources are often extracted at the cost of both the natural setting, and the health of native West Virginians. Our programs are meant develop local kids into responsible mountain stewards, and culminate as these kids grow into young adults who can take action to relocalize community wealth through responsible socio-enviro-economic decision making.

This building will help Mountain SOL accomplish these goals in ways we couldn't have before. The benefit to the kids of north-central West Virginia will be immeasurable, as these will be the future proprietors of this beautiful land.