About Us
LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR MISSION AND THE TEAM THAT MAKES IT HAPPEN
OUR MISSION
The Restoration & Preservation of Outdoor Childhood
embracing adversity - mentored access to risk - engaging ancestral skills practice - 'minimalist' supervision
​We don't always put safety first at Coyle Outside. That is said with trepidation. Our culture, especially around kids, often promotes safety above all else. Much of the time this makes the best sense AND, sometimes, this can leave things like good judgement, relationship, confidence, trust, connection to come AFTER.
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Adversity - We believe being vulnerable to small and moderate failures provides opportunities to create heroic personal victories and to experience being one's own changemaker.
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Risk - We believe that wisdom (as well as a beautiful, rich life) comes through failures and experiencing discomfort
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Skills Practice - We believe in a distinction between 'Discovery' and 'Learning' where discovery is transforming for the student.
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'Minimalist' Supervision - We believe childhood is the most powerful teacher of children and that it is usually best to 'get out of the way' (we are aligned with LetGrow.Org)
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Guiding Values of our Organization:
Service -Workability - Authenticity - Impeccability
We want to work with families, organizations and schools who want to take chances and stretch themselves.
We are interested in the power that comes from making a difference in the world more than what comes from pursuing happiness. We strive to develop people who are capable of making sacrifices in the near term that pay off in the long term. We want for students to leave our programs feeling like they had to generate some courage and that they pushed themselves to do something that would not have happened on its own. We want them to leave with stories to tell.
We remember we are not here to create epiphanies. These sometimes happen, and most of the time we don't even know. But we ARE here dedicatedly to influence the course our students take. We aspire to move the dial on their compass one degree so that in 10, 20, 30 years they end up in a much different and bigger place. We do this through modeling character, interdependence and service and supporting youth through their experiences with us.
The Coyle Outside Model
Our model:
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Work in professional partnerships (typically contracting with Schools and Parks & Rec Departments) we leverage collaboration to impact more youth and benefit from teaming up with agencies that expand the resources we can provide in programming.
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Engage public/private partnership and contracts that 'give back' or otherwise directly positively impact the public good.
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Use and develop our expertise in mobile and remote programming to make our classes and camps possible in places they otherwise wouldn't be.
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Train instructors to generate experiential scenario based lessons, facilitate an inquiry based pedagogy and intentionally 'curate' targeted supervision (to minimize 'helpful' interruptions).
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Use ancestral and survival skills as a platform for experiential and interdependent learning. These skills require minimal supplies and consumables while creating a context of direct engagement with the natural world.
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Making a Difference
We shape programs fostering competence, character, confidence, and connectivity.
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Cultivating Connections
Our partnerships with schools, cities, and non-profits comprise 90% of our programs.
Expanding Horizons
Our mobile instructors journey to deliver programs in otherwise unreachable locations.
WHO WE ARE
And what we do
Coyle Outside was founded in 2011 by Daniel Coyle.
We have three program umbrellas:
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Outschool a Coyle Outside Foundation project
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Summer camps in Oregon, Washington, Colorado, and Maryland
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Oregon Outdoor School provider
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We love opportunities to work with towns, small cities and small to medium school districts where there is demand for quality outdoor programming and outdoor education but fewer resources to reliably meet demand.
We provide private programs and classes, partnering with parents, homeschool groups, and individuals to create new offerings.
Much of our curriculum and programming has been the result of instructors who have introduced and developed various camps and workshops. ​
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Interested in collaborating? We'd love to hear from you!
