Trails, Timelines, and Turning 90 Emergent Social Justice Curriculum in The Woods Primes

This fall, the Woods Primes took on a big question with muddy boots and thoughtful hearts: How do we make our basecamp trails accessible to everyone? As the children planned and built trails around our outdoor classroom, they kept returning to one shared concern—what about people with limited mobility? Who gets to move freely through nature, and how can we help make that possible?

“We didn’t want people who use wheelchairs to push forward on a stick and fall and get hurt!”- Sam

“We wanted visitors that use wheelchairs to feel welcome! We want our basecamp to be accessible to everyone!”- Nova

“We don’t want people to get stuck on a path if they are in a wheelchair! We want to help, because it’s the right thing to do!” - Whitney

To help us think more deeply, we invited a down the road neighbor Kathy Swain to visit basecamp. Kathy had recently received a brand-new all-terrain walker (a rollator, which the children were very impressed by) and was eager to test it out on different surfaces. Kathy and her caregiver, Rosie, take a daily walk together and generously offered to visit our basecamp during the school day to give the children feedback on how to improve the accessibility of the trails. As Kathy navigated the paths, we noticed places that could be flatter, wider, or more welcoming—and suddenly our trail work had very clear direction and purpose.

During her visit, Kathy delighted in offering suggestions and cheering on the children as they showed off their hammock tricks (a performance she seemed to enjoy just as much as they did). The admiration went both ways—Kathy is playful, sharp, and full of joy. I first met her years ago while serving on a committee to revitalize the Wendell Free Library’s community playground, and it felt wonderfully full-circle to see her navigating our basecamp. Kathy is someone who wholeheartedly supports a child’s right to play! During her visit, she casually mentioned that she’s turning 90 this year, news that immediately earned her a spot on our classroom calendar.

Kathy’s 90th birthday was last week and happened to coincide with a time when the Woods Primes have been reading several picture books, learning about the Civil Rights Movement and the long arc of working towards justice. 

“We were learning about a time when things weren’t fair for everyone! Some people even got hurt. We care about fairness and truth.”- Korra

“We wanted to learn about the fighting because we want it to end. We want everyone to be friends!”- Keaton

“People weren’t treated fairly and that’s not nice!”  -Dash

“We want things to be fair!”- Poe

“We are learning about Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement because we really, really care about how people are treated. We want all people to feel comfortable. It is important to know about the things that used to happen. I want to try to know about everything!” -Frances

Because “long ago” can sometimes be a developmentally tricky concept for five to eight-year-olds, we have a classroom rainbow visual timeline, where the violet section represents the present day—what we refer to as the time of progress and the here and now. As we read books about both Indigenous and Black history we’ve been putting an image of the book along the timeline.

“The red part is when the dinosaurs lived, the purple part is now,” -Chase
“The Civil Rights Movement started in the blue.”- Nova

 As we talked about the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement, marches, speeches, and history that happened before their teachers were born, the children made an important connection: Kathy might remember this time in ways the picture books or their teachers couldn’t explain. So alongside birthday cards (since walking to her mailbox is the only place Kathy is walking to these days), the children decided to write her a letter—because learning, like justice, is better when it’s shared across generations.

“Kathy was alive when Martin Luther King was and we were wondering if she met him.” - Sam

“We wanted to give Kathy birthday love at the same time as we were learning about Martin Luther King! Kathy was alive at that time and she had that experience and we thought she would be a good person to ask! So we just mixed it together with the love messages.”- Nova