Teacher Heidi

Heidi Mann earned a master’s degree in education from Portland State University with her research and work on early childhood and outdoor learning. She is on the cutting edge of her field. She leads parent and teacher education workshops. She is part of a growing movement of professional educators who focus on the importance of nature based learning. Heidi and her colleagues understand that there is a fundamental knowledge base which comes from experiences spent exploring our natural world.

From her earliest years running summer camps for the park and rec, to her time studying elementary education at Indiana University, to her years volunteering as a teacher on two different Native American reservation, Heidi has spent her life in education developing curricula that allows children to learn valuable life skills while engaged in fun activities. Students have so much fun stomping in puddles, hunting for animal footprints and building nature forts, they do not realize they are learning from her years of training and experience.

Having spent ten years as the director and lead teacher at a cooperative nature based outdoor preschool and kindergarten, Heidi Mann knows the value of a family oriented learning environment. Heidi collaborates with parents, neighbors, friends, and colleagues to bring your child a vast array of resources. On a given day, our Forest Friends might watch a parent spin wool or have a demonstration from a hobby bee keeper or talk to a birder from the Audubon Society. These experiences come from relationships built over time and are intentionally organized in a deep educational system that appears spontaneous and celebrates community.

For more information about services Teacher Heidi provides click here. 

Assistant Teacher Sarah

Sarah Andrews is an assistant teacher at Forest Friends. She is a nature loving individual with over 17 years of child nurturing experience who grew up in Nebraska. She is inspired by nature and has a passion for environmental stewardship who finds joy in working with diverse groups of children guiding learning, and strengthening a sense of unity within a community. 

Sarah has worked at Forest Friends since 2019 as an assistant teacher. She has four children at home two of whom attended outdoor preschool with Teacher Heidi when Sarah was a parent volunteer. Her family moved away for a few years to Denver, Colorado where Sarah worked and volunteered at two local preschools. At Four Seasons Nature Preschool, she assisted in the start and design of their outdoor program. She also volunteered at the Park Hill Community Garden as a school liaison connecting the grade school with garden education. She apprenticed at the Little Raven Urban Farm maintaining the. garden and harvesting for the CSA.

At Forest Friends, Teacher Sarah loves hiking in all kinds of weather while observing the changes of the seasons. She is an excellent finder of bugs and loves to garden. Her love for children is limitless and she always finds the humor in every moment.