Tiffany Taylor Scholarship Fund

Bringing Play, Learning, & Growth to Orlando's Kids: Ms. Tiffany Taylor's TimberNook Scholarship Fund


What is this sponsorship fund for and who is it benefiting?

This Scholarship Fund is a collaboration between TimberNook Orlando and some of Central Florida's most incredible teachers.

Teachers who are silently making a huge impact on the mental, emotional, and behavioral health of Orlando's children. Together, our goal is to create opportunities for underserved and under-resourced children so they too can have an enjoyable summer.

Why is this scholarship so important?

This is our first scholarship fund of many!

It was created out of appreciation for teachers who are dangerously pushing their limits to create humane and compassionate learning environments in today's increasingly electronic and impersonal world.

We say "dangerously" because these teachers are furious and fearless. They are the among the biggest advocates our children have, and unfortunately many of them feel they are working alone.

When they have the support of their administration, they work miracles every day. Imagine what they could do with our support, too!

Effective, impactful teachers connect children to the outdoors, nature, and animals.
They incorporate curriculum into project based learning.
They understand the importance of movement and unstructured play and ensure their children get that every day.
They are steadfast in keeping up with the latest research.
They implement improvement strategies that work.
They monitor progress.
They keep data.
They are the winning advocates children need most!

TimberNook Orlando's Teacher Sponsorship Fund is a partnership promoting practices which support healthy development, love of learning, and joy in living for children.

Our campaign focuses on the recovery of play and on the need for a more ethics-based and mindful approach to education, especially in underserved areas.

The teachers we have selected have an existing presence in their communities and are helping connect us to families who otherwise could not afford the TimberNook Orlando experience for their children.

We believe every child has the right to play with other children without barriers. With your support, we will restore child-initiated play and learning that is diverse, inclusive of all and intergenerational environment!


How will the funds be used?

The Tiffany Taylor Sponsorship fund will offer 14 youths the opportunity to attend TimberNook Orlando this summer, seven per session. Each youth will attend one of the following camps:

Friends of the Wild
June 5 through June 9th
9am - 12pm. 

A Bug's World
August 21-25
9am - 12pm. 

Your contribution, parterned with the help of TimberNook Orlando, will waive camp fees for the children. 


About Tiffany Taylor


Q & A with Tiffany Taylor
Name of your school/organization?
Grand Avenue Primary Learning Center/OCPS
 
Which age group(s) do you work with?
Pre-Kindergarden 

Tell us about an experience you have had that surprised you.
I'm sadly surprised at how little play and developmentally appropriate experiences are valued by so many, especially when you can see the rich benefits. Just watch a kid playing for 10 minutes - it's amazing what happens cognitively and socially/emotionally!
 
If you could, you would ...
Open a nature-based preschool in the Parramore/Holden Heights area.
 
How have you pushed the envelope, or challenged the educational system?
By working to "walk my talk" - creating a program that encompasses what I believe (and years of research and experience substantiates) is best for young children. I've marched, written letters and emails, protested, spoken before the School Board, shared research and examples continuously, written for publications, used any means available to promote the message that play and appropriate experiences in a nurturing, safe environment is what children need most. Anything else can be, and often times is, damaging.

Where do you draw your energy from? What "fuels your fire"?
The love and light from my husband and family, my spiritual connections, and the many friends and mentors I have had that stand beside me and lead me towards making it better for children.

Who paved a pathway for you / believed in you / was most influential in your career?
I have been blessed by so many beautiful souls that have lifted me up and influenced me for good.

The work and mentoring of Dr. Becky Bailey has been the biggest thread continuously woven through my career and continues to be. The spirit and example of gifted teachers Sarah Simpson, Laurin MacLeish, Vicky Hepler, Laura Crouter, Nancy Brasel, Dr. Judy Levin, adn the entire staff adn faculty at the Grand Ave come to mind as very special friends and shining lights on my path.

What is TimberNook Orlando?

TimberNook Orlando is an official provider of TimberNook, a creator of innovative, nature-based day camps for kids. The experiences promote exploration, imagination, and innovation while encouraging the unstructured free play opportunities that children need most in today's world.

TimberNook Orlando's programming is a dramatic difference from traditional schooling, though the benefits children and their families experience are tremendous. When children can play freely and explore their environments the therapeutic, behavioral, and educational benefits are unparalleled. Here, children are free to move and free to learn. The various experiences offer immersion of the whole body and all the senses, enriching the total child (mind, body, emotion and intuition).

TimberNook Orlando's unique programming allows children of all ages to collaborate, co-create, and co-exist. Co-operation is not something adults ask them to do, but is intuitively chosen by the children.

Children are born to survive. They are built to become robust and resilient. Give them the tools, and they will use them to excel. Children are little scientists, who are curious, imaginative, exploratory, and persistent. They are born leaders, just waiting for the opportunities offered by TimberNook camps to develop and emerge. TimberNook Orlando values the inherent capabilities of children, and has created a learning environment for children to identify and enhance their own capabilities, whatever those may be.

Our gift to the donors:

Donors will receive a thank you note by email post TimberNook, which will include over 50 photos showing various aspects of the camp experiences had by the children you helped sponsor. We will also include a special message from the teacher highlighted in this campaign.

All funds go towards providing  the opportunity for 14 children (7 per session) to come to TimberNook Orlando.

Session 1: Friends of the Wild (5 days)

Session 2:  A Bug's World (5 days)