How Outdoor Education Inspires Curiosity and Confidence in USM’s Youngest Learners

By Michael Tauscher

When you walk across University School of Milwaukee’s campus on any given morning, you might hear laughter floating from the edge of the woods, the crunch of boots through leaves, or the excited shout of a child who just discovered something “mucky and marvelous” near a pond. These joyful sounds often lead back to Emily Vertacnik ’07, USM alumna and Preschool outdoor education teacher, whose work invites our youngest learners to experience nature as their second classroom.

For Vertacnik, outdoor education is not an “extra” or an occasional adventure. It’s a thoughtfully designed extension of our academic program that helps 3- and 4-year-olds learn about the world and  themselves through hands-on discovery. “Outdoor ed is essentially the second classroom for the kids,” she explained. “It’s not recess, and it’s not a break from teaching. It’s a continuation of their learning, just beneath the sky instead of under a ceiling.”

Building Connections — Neurons and Otherwise

Preschoolers’ brains are growing at an extraordinary pace, and Vertacnik sees nature as the ideal environment to nurture that growth. “Up to 90% of a child’s brain growth occurs before age 5,” she noted. “When we go outside, those neural connections are firing through every sensory experience—touching bark, hearing wind, feeling mud between their fingers. It’s a living laboratory for curiosity.”

Each lesson begins indoors, where Vertacnik sparks interest with what she calls “inspired time.” The children gather in a circle to engage with a mystery theme—perhaps a wooden spoon, a toilet paper roll, a cinnamon stick—and guess what connects them. “They eventually discover that everything comes from a tree,” she said with a smile. “It gets them excited and helps them take ownership of what we’ll explore outside.”

Before heading outdoors, children share a snack together in the Ming Ming Voo MDS'63 Dining Room, or what Vertacnik affectionately calls “our little natural world.” Posters, borders, and small tree cookies painted with woodland animals transform the dining room into a cozy forest haven. “We create calm before the adventure,” she explained. “Then, once we step outside, the excitement is contagious. I’ve truly never had a child who didn’t want to go.”

Learning Through the Whole Body

When the class heads out, the lesson plan quickly expands beyond paper. Children move, listen, climb, collect, and wonder using their entire bodies as instruments of learning. “Being outside develops the whole child,” Vertacnik said. “It’s scientific thinking, yes, but it’s also fine and gross motor development, social-emotional growth, and creativity all at once.”

The rules of exploration are simple but intentional. “Our first rule is that what we find at USM stays at USM,” she said. “We don’t pick things off trees, but we observe, touch, and explore them.” The emphasis is always on connection rather than collection—a mindset that fosters respect for the natural world.

Whether tracing the path of an ant or listening for the call of a bird, children learn that observation is a powerful form of participation. “We’re building a sense of wonder,” Vertacnik added. “It’s not about getting from point A to point B, it’s about everything you discover in between.”

Weathering Every Season

Of course, outdoor learning in Wisconsin means embracing the elements. “We go outside in nearly every condition,” she said. “Unless it’s below zero with wind chill, then we’ll stay inside and bring nature to us, for example, by freezing water to see how long it takes to solidify. But otherwise, we adapt.”

Adaptation is part of the curriculum. On cold days, the class may stay closer to the building or take shorter adventures. On hot days, water bottles and shaded rest spots are always close by. Each child is outfitted with a full-body rain suit, which has proven useful far beyond rainy days. “The rain suits are great in the fall for wind, and even in snow when coats get soaked,” Vertacnik said. “It allows us to keep exploring comfortably.”

Hidden Ponds and Big Discoveries

Among her favorite destinations are the campus’s hidden ponds, or small vernal pools tucked behind trees and tall grass. “At first the children don’t believe me when I call them ponds,” she said. “They’ll say, ‘That’s not a pond!’ And right there, the curiosity begins.”

As conservation work has opened more areas of campus, Vertacnik’s young explorers have ventured deeper, discovering layers of life in these muddy ecosystems. “When they hear they can go into the mucky pond, they light up,” she said. Out come the nets, containers, and magnifying glasses. “Some children charge right in; others prefer to stay back and observe. But the beauty is how they work together. Children wading in the mud bring samples to the ones watching, explaining what they found. It’s collaboration in its purest form.”

Each location holds its own history and charm. “We have what we call ‘farm pond,’ because the land used to be farmland,” Vertacnik shared. “You can still see the faint rows of crops and even an old piece of machinery nearby. Then there’s ‘STEM pond,’ behind the head of school's house, where we do a lot of observation work.”

Mentorship Across Generations

Outdoor education at USM doesn’t stop at the Preschool gate. One of Vertacnik’s most meaningful initiatives connects her youngest learners with Middle School and Upper School students, who regularly join preschoolers on their adventures in outdoor education with teachers Kari Young, Kessia Andersen, and Sue Baker.

“This partnership has been incredible,” Vertacnik said. “The younger kids step up, and the older kids become role models in a way that’s transformative for both.” She recalled a recent session where preschoolers and Upper Schoolers explored side by side. “By the end, the Upper School students were glowing because they had rediscovered that pure joy of curiosity. One told me, ‘I remember doing this when I was in PK!’ That full-circle moment is exactly what we hope for.”

These inter-divisional experiences underscore one of USM’s core strengths—a seamless educational continuum from Preschool through 12th grade. “It’s not just shared space,” Vertacnik reflected. “It's a shared wonder.”

The Value of “Safe Risk”

A cornerstone of USM’s philosophy is empowering children to grow through experience, even when that means taking small, safe risks. “We teach children how to assess their environment and build confidence in what their bodies can do,” Vertacnik explained. “That doesn’t mean letting them be unsafe. It means giving them opportunities to test limits with guidance and encouragement.”

Instead of shouting at the students to be careful, Vertacnik and her colleagues use reflective prompts: Do you notice how that branch moves? How does your foot feels on that rock? What could you do differently? These small shifts help children develop awareness and self-regulation.

Recently, new landscaping work on campus left small holes and uneven ground near a play area. For Vertacnik, it became a learning moment. “We could’ve roped it off, but instead, we explored it together,” she said. “Now the children remind each other, ‘Watch the hole by the evergreen!’ They’re learning awareness and care, not fear.”

Risk-taking through play also builds resilience. “Balancing on a log, stepping into cold water, feeling the wind push against you—those moments are empowering,” she said. “When a child falls, laughs, gets back up, and tries again, that’s learning at its best.”

Place-Based Learning: More Than “Taking Work Outside”

While outdoor classrooms are growing in popularity nationwide, Vertacnik distinguishes between outdoor learning and outdoor education. “Outdoor education is place-based,” she said. “It’s not just taking your math notebook outside because the weather’s nice. It’s about connecting with what’s happening right around us, including the changes, the living things, the cycles.”

She encourages children to look, listen, and ask questions that tie directly to their environment. If the leaves are turning, they might learn about chlorophyll. If they spot a squirrel burying food, they’ll discuss habitats and preparation for winter. “We learn with our whole bodies,” she said. “There’s no single task list. I have intentions, but nature often sets the agenda.”

Even reading and math find their place among the trees. Vertacnik reads stories outdoors and turns counting into physical games, like tallying sticks or walking to the rhythm of “one, two, three, four, shut the door.” Music is another bridge. Working with USM’s Music Together program, she integrates songs about weather, animals, and the changing seasons. “The arts and sciences come together naturally out here,” she said. “Everything connects.”

A Vision for the Future

Vertacnik has watched USM’s outdoor education program evolve over the years, but her vision extends far beyond the present. “We’ve done such a great job exploring the property,” she said. “Believe it or not, our preschoolers sometimes travel farther on the trails than older students—not because of time, but because of their pure excitement.”

Looking ahead, she imagines adding small, intentional features along the trails, like logs for balancing, cozy nooks for quiet observation, and materials that blend into the landscape but invite exploration. “Simple things that make the environment even more interactive, while keeping it natural,” she said. “Children love finding little spaces that feel like their own.”

Ultimately, her goal is for every child at USM—from Preschool through senior year—to see the outdoors not as a backdrop, but as a teacher. “Nature doesn’t grade you, it challenges you, surprises you, and welcomes you back the next day. I think that’s what makes it the most powerful classroom of all.”

As an educator and an alumna, Vertacnik feels both gratitude and purpose in returning to the same campus where her own sense of wonder began. “This school gave me the curiosity to explore,” she said. “Now I get to give that back to our youngest Wildcats.”

About Michael Tauscher:

Michael Tauscher has served as the head of Preschool and Lower School at University School of Milwaukee since 2015. Born and raised on a family-owned farm in Pulaski, Wisconsin, he holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master’s degree in educational leadership. With 24 years of experience as an educator, including 17 years as an administrator, Tauscher has worked in early childhood, elementary, and middle school settings, including teaching 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades and gaining international teaching experience in Kyoto, Japan.