Mission
Our mission is to create outdoor classrooms and spaces in order to reconnect students to nature and their community by rehabilitating the endangered monarch butterfly population.
We believe that community development through conservation can reconnect people to our natural environment. Volunteerism, donations, time and energy are vital to empowering our young people to create a voice for themselves and their environment. Our purpose is to reconnect with nature. Technology is a tool for learning, not the focus of learning. Information should be used to strengthen our connection to the environment, not eliminate it. By creating outdoor learning spaces within the community, we can preserve our environment for future generations.
Pillars
We believe in implementing meaningful curriculum and projects within our community. To ensure consistency in that curricula, we have five pillars that stabilize our work and allow us to select and execute within our vision and purpose.
Community
–
At the core of our work is a deep dedication to our community. All projects include students, volunteers, and professionals to maximize expertise resources, and teamwork.
empowerment
–
We've found the confidence students gain from garden planning and execution empowers them to pursue and achieve other goals and passions. We support the emotional development necessary for learning and success.
curriculum
–
Our kinesthetic and Socratic approach opens new methods of learning and opportunities for students who benefit from a non-traditional classroom setting. Our four-unit Socratic seminar curricula will be available for schools in 2019.
healing
–
The physical and emotional benefits of gardening are abundant. Reconnecting with nature is a vital step towards self-preservation and healing. We believe a community should support the health and well-being of one another.
conservation
–
The vehicle that drives our initiatives is the conservation of our environment for future generations. The preservation of native landscapes and fresh water is vital to the survival of our environment and people.
“In a society that is alienated from nature, we forget the world’s most pristine protected resources could some day cease to exist.”
Eric Rejman | Co-Founder
Our Story
Co-Founders Eric Rejman and I, Steve Driscoll, initially found common ground at Eric's art show "Exclusive Peaks" at Buckledown Brewing in 2014. Through shared experiences in Glacier National Park, Olympic National Park, and the Cascade Mountains of Washington state (the subjects of Eric's "Exclusive Peaks" collection), our passion for nature conservation and art led to our collaboration and establishment of The Exclusive Peaks Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.
Over the past couple of years, The Exclusive Peaks Foundation explored multiple facets of conservation education through Gurrie Middle School in La Grange, IL (my current school) and Highlands Middle School, Eric's alma mater. The goal of incorporating native gardening and art through conservation had its share of successes and failures. Many successes came in the form of summer courses in pickling, photography, and gardening. Participation peaked during seasonal work days in the garden. We found many failures and struggles were due to a lack of structure and consistency in curriculum, schedules, and resources. Planting food from seed proved to be time-consuming and inconsistent while garden maintenance was a continual struggle.
Through trial and error (and a lot of explanations around the meaning of our organization's name), we were able to determine that our focus should be on providing viable curriculum to teachers, planting perennial native gardens for pollinators rather than vegetables (we believe hydroponic farming is a more relevant way to teach agriculture in our urban environments), and the physical and emotional benefits of gardening. With that, Planting Purpose was born and our new direction clarified. We're grateful for all the support provided by Gurrie Middle School, Highlands Middle School, SCARCE, Rose Naseef, Gary Cuneen, Children's Hospital at UIC, Buckledown Brewing, Linda Walker, Estelle Carol, West Cook Wild Ones, our family, friends, students, volunteers, and community members that have provided hours of work, dollars, feedback, and opportunity to create something meaningful.
Ready to help?
Volunteer
—
Donate
