Into the Woods: Connecting Campus, Community and Wellness in the Wissahickon

Over 50 miles of trails, lush canopy, and creeks sit near Penn Charter's campus, and for Lower School teacher Joel Eckel, the Wissahickon Valley Park offered the perfect landscape for an inspiring sabbatical.

While based in the Lower School, Joel Eckel spent his sabbatical looking at the entire Penn Charter journey, exploring how deep engagement with nature can serve as a powerful antidote to modern screen fatigue, anxiety and social media pressure. From collaborating with local environmental organizations to imagining cross-divisional field trips, his research outlines a vision for the Wissahickon as a true extension of the Penn Charter classroom. (Bonus, he even designed a trail guide!)

We caught up with Joel to discuss his findings and what it means to build a lifelong relationship with the natural world.

Q&A with Joel Eckel

Q: You explored more than 50 miles of trails during your sabbatical. What inspired this project, and how does it apply to the schoolhouse?

A: My main goal was to address the growing trends of anxiety and depression brought on by excessive screen time and social media. While I teach in the Lower School, this work isn't just for the Lower School; it’s designed for all three divisions.

In the Lower School, the focus is on spending time outside, building community, taking calculated risks, and providing them with opportunities to display different aspects of their personality that are not as evident during classroom tasks. Working with organizations like the Wissahickon Restoration Volunteers and Friends of the Wissahickon really reinforced how vital hands-on, experiential learning and service experiences are for our students.
 

Q: How do you see your experience reshaping environmental education and outdoor learning at Penn Charter?

A: We are so fortunate to have a campus in such close proximity to the Wissahickon. I see a tremendous opportunity to build a structured, PK–12 pathway for students to engage with our natural environment. With some planning, the Wissahickon can become an extension of our classrooms and a place where students engage in outdoor learning.

Having real experiences in the environment is not only good physically and mentally for students of all ages, but it also fosters a genuine love of nature and allows students to connect more deeply with the Quaker testimony of stewardship.
 

Q: Is there a specific spot or lesson concept you are particularly excited to bring to life?

A: There's a little spot near where West Mount Airy Avenue dead-ends into the Wissahickon, and just down the trail is a place lovingly known as "frog pond.”  I'd love to see a class of lower school students out there on a fine spring day with rain boots and nets, accompanied by an upper school science class collecting tadpoles. This would be a great example of hands-on, cross-divisional learning.
 

Q: You mentioned student mental health earlier. How can the park serve as a space for personal wellness and mindfulness?

A: This is really at the heart of what I wanted to accomplish. I see a direct parallel between my goals in the Wissahickon and how we approach Meeting for Worship at Penn Charter.

The practice of Meeting for Worship gives students a gift they carry for life—the knowledge that when the world feels busy, hectic, or frantic, they can pull back, sit in silence and reflect. It’s a deeply centering practice. The exact same thing happens when we give students time in nature. My hope is that by giving them regular opportunities to step into the woods, they learn that nature is a special, restorative place they can return to anytime throughout their lives.
 

Q: Looking ahead, what does long-term success look like for Penn Charter's relationship with the Wissahickon?

A: Penn Charter already does fantastic work, but there are endless opportunities to expand our outdoor education program. Ultimately, we owe it to our students to provide direct, meaningful experiences in nature. Success would mean the Wissahickon becomes a continuous thread running through every student's Penn Charter experience, from their earliest years in pre-K through graduation.