For the Children
In this newsletter: Red Oak Outdoor School fundraiser, a peek inside the Song Carrier Toolkit, and a poem for now
Dear Friends,
I want to invite you to help a beloved organization that shares space with the Center for Belonging, bringing groups of children into the woods every week to learn with nature through play, songs, stories, and handcraft. It’s a way for the children to grow up knowing that they are part of nature and that through belonging in nature we can praise and protect life.
Red Oak Outdoor School was created by our daughter Ida Rotto, who some of you will know through her songs and her skillful leadership at camps. Every week Daniel and I get to hear the sounds of the children down at the gazebo and out in the woods, free to be children as they are guided in their exploring and learning in nature and culture.
Parents and other enthusiasts of the school have created the first ever fundraiser for the school. The goal is to raise $5000, and they could really use your help. All you need to know is below. Thank you!
In other news, I’m busy shipping out my book Song Carrier Toolbox, with 300 off so far and 700 more waiting in my living room to fly into the world. The timing feels just-right; as we continue to find the many ways that we can share courage and care, singing together is just one of the best!
Want to read my current favorite poem? It’s in here too.
In Gratitude,
Liz
Red Oak Outdoor School Fundraiser
Supporting resilience in youth through connection to self, each other and the natural world.
We want to help Red Oak Outdoor School to thrive! Will you join us in saying a collective community YES to all that it does through play, craft, story and song to reweave the web of relationship between humans and land? Your gifts will help carry Red Oak into a new phase of sustainability, keeping tuition affordable to a range of families, purchasing tools and supplies, and supporting the mentorship program.
We are tremendously grateful for the gift that Red Oak Outdoor School is to our community and delighted to be organizing the first-ever Red Oak fundraiser. Please join us in supporting this community-based nature school. Let’s show Red Oak and show each other that we value their work and its contribution to the future of our world!
There are three ways to help. Choose one or more!
OPEN HOUSE: Come to the Red Oak Open house at Fern Hollow* on Sunday, December 1 from 2:30-5:00. We’ll serve you homemade soup and hickory nut tea! We’ll have beautiful handmade crafts for sale! We’ll have indoor space for coziness and conversation and outdoor space for a fire and games. *1591 Manawa Trail Rd / Decorah
ONLINE AUCTION: Participate in our online auction, active now through Dec 15. Bid to win a home or backyard concert by the OkeeDokee Brothers’ Joe, a wood-fired sauna night for you and your friends, clay pottery by Sophie Rog, jewelry by Amy Arnold, prints by Zoe Klosterwill, and more.
DONATE: Make a one-time or monthly donation via PayPal here, or by sending a check to Red Oak Outdoor School c/o Rachael Munn / 1575 Manawa Trail Rd / Decorah Iowa / 52101
Together we’ll help Red Oak to thrive, for the good of all generations!
Gratefully Yours,
Rachael Munn, Amy Arnold, Elizabeth Finanger, and Dayna Burtness
What Is Red Oak School?
Since 2019 Red Oak Outdoor School has been gathering children and teens in the woods, meadows, and riversides of Northeast Iowa. Founded by Ida Rotto, the school now also employs 4 part-time adult mentors and in 2024 alone has served over 75 children, youth, and their families from across this region through weekly and monthly programs.
Through hands-on experiences and activities engaging with the many friends and allies we live alongside, the youth learn tracking, bird language, weaving and hand crafts, carving, wild food harvest, friction-fire, herbal medicine, and more, fostering deep and lasting relationships with the land they call home. Each day youth explore the unique and important part that they play in their community through peacemaking practices, group challenges, and opportunities to listen and be heard by one another as they build skills for healthy communication and brave expression. Their days are woven together by games, songs and stories that offer landscapes for learning and growth and invite them into care and reciprocity with the living world that we inhabit.
Testimonials
“I wish these classes existed when I was growing up! This is the third year my kids are participating in classes through Red Oak and their enthusiasm for the program grows with each passing season. Ida has such a gift for facilitating personal growth and learning in her students through the most interactive of mediums: obstacle courses, songs, games, handcrafts, and cooking to name a few. It's been such a joy to see my kids grow in their relationship to the earth and all of its creatures in such a safe and encouraging environment!”
~Jenn Kost, parent
“These three years of Red Oak are a gift that has woven into our family culture. Ida's beautiful way of being with children shapes our conversations, the questions we ask, the way we listen, the games we play, the songs we sing, what interests our kids and what they are empowered to teach us! Red Oak has become foundational to our family rhythm. We are grateful for the community with other families and how the kids nurture deep care for themselves, each other, and the plants and critters all around us. We think the world of Ida and her programs!”
~Elizabeth & Hans Finanger, parents
"Ida is pure magic. She combines a deep wisdom about plants, animals, and the land with a generous heart and incredible patience. And the way that she weaves music into all of her teachings is truly captivating for kids and parents alike. My daughter said she learned so much from working with Ida but that it never felt like learning because she was having so much fun! Ida’s teachings draw upon concepts of non-violent communication, emotional intelligences and metacognition as strategies for helping kids to work collaboratively and communicate with kindness. She brings curiosity, compassion and humor to everything she does and models those traits for her students. Our whole family feels fortunate to have worked with Ida, and we will cherish her teachings for many years to come."
~Jenifer, educator & parent
Song Carrier Toolkit - Peek Inside!
Emma and I have been working hard to prepare and ship the first round of Song Carrier Toolkit orders! We’re so grateful to each person who has invited a book into their lives. It’s exciting to think of all of the places the books are traveling, and to know the names of more places where singing that is happening in communities across the land.
The book is divided into three main sections: 1) Welcome, 2) Nuts and Bolts, and 3) Heart and Spirit. You can see the whole table of contents below. The incredible art throughout the book was created by Zoe Klosterwill — you can find more of her art on her website.
You can order the Song Carrier Toolkit or the other three books (We Belong, We Are All Enough, and Kitchen Table Singers) on the Center for Belonging website.
If you are curious about how to bring group singing into the spaces where your local communities gather, this book offers some tools, connections, and encouragement to begin.
If you have already stepped into leading singing in community, here’s a chance to look at your experiences and questions within the wider scope of this growing movement.
If you are a seasoned song carrier, perhaps this book will support you in sharing these evolving tools with others.
Whether your gift to song and community is through bringing simple singing into your neighborhood or family, or you are leaning toward becoming one of the traveling bards who carry seeds of friendship and music across the land, this is for you.
In Any Event by Dorianne Laux
If we are fractured
we are fractured
like stars
bred to shine
in every direction,
through any dimension,
billions of years
since and hence.
I shall not lament
the human, not yet.
There is something
more to come, our hearts
a gold mine
not yet plumbed,
an uncharted sea.
Nothing is gone forever.
If we came from dust
and will return to dust
then we can find our way
into anything.
What we are capable of
is not yet known,
and I praise us now,
in advance.
