Our Team
We are a worker-owned cooperative, and are collaboratively building the Nature School Cooperative
Teacher
Jon Worthing
*Masters of Social Work with Concentration in Ecological Justice - University of Denver 2024
*Bachelors in Natural Resource Tourism - Colorado State University 2021
*Certificate of Youth Mentoring - CSU 2021
*CPR & Wilderness First Aid 2024
Jon is passionate about assisting youth on their journey to become the best versions of themselves. He has been tied into the Mentorship space since his first job working at an after school care program for K-8.
In college he became fascinated with the relationship between humans and nature. He studied the social and ecological impacts of the tourism industry, and how to repair our impacts to those spaces. While doing this, he helped run a mentorship program at Colorado State University called Campus Connections. This program, serving youth ages 8-18, provided youth a space to receive free therapy as they grow into themselves.
In Grad school he pursued a Social Work degree to refine his mentoring skills. He interned as a social worker at a high school, and is always looking for new knowledge to expand his thinking. He is currently inspired by the challenge of reconnecting humans with nature. This led him to pursue Ecological Justice as his degree concentration and start working at the Nature School Cooperative.
Teacher
Grace Beaumont
*B.A. in Psychology, Communications, and Women’s and Gender Studies–Hope College 2024*
*CPR and AED certified for adults, children, infants, and pediatrics–2025*
Grace is committed to aiding children in their social, emotional, and educational growth while using nature as the biggest tool. She found her passion for education as a Montessori volunteer in the midst of 2020 in St. Louis, MO. volunteering quickly became an assistant teacher position, and her passion for incorporating nature-based education into the classroom grew.
She then moved to Holland, MI, for college, where she studied the intersections of psychology, communications, and women’s and gender studies. As she learned to explore Michigan, Grace began working for a nature-based education program that serves over 30 public schools for students in TK–6th grade. Here, she was able to cultivate and apply a scaffolded nature-based curriculum for each grade level whilst using the natural world as her classroom.
Grace is trained in risky play and values child-led learning to instill self-confidence and independence in each of her students. She aims to not only teach her students about the beauty of the natural world around them, but to model the amazement and curiosity.
Teacher
Natalie Bostow
*B.A. in Recreation Management, Certificate in Outdoor Leadership
*CPR & AED Certified (2024)
*Attended Expeditionary Learning–based Schools throughout her education
Natalie is passionate about nurturing curiosity, connection, and belonging—for children, families, and the communities that hold them. With a background in recreation management and outdoor leadership, she brings a grounded, compassionate presence to her work with young people and families in outdoor spaces, where learning and growth unfold through exploration and shared experience.
Having attended expeditionary learning schools for much of her own education, Natalie carries a deep appreciation for hands-on, experiential learning that integrates nature, curiosity, and community. Her time as a park ranger deepened her commitment to conservation and instilled in her a strong desire to teach younger generations to defend and protect our natural spaces.
She believes the natural world is one of our greatest teachers, offering opportunities to slow down, notice, and wonder. Whether it’s discovering a worm after rain, tracing the veins of a fallen leaf, or sharing stories under an open sky, Natalie loves creating space for children and families to build meaningful connections with the earth and with one another.
When she’s not facilitating groups or spending time outdoors, Natalie is often dreaming about her family’s future small hobby farm in Littleton, where they can grow food, raise animals, and continue building community alongside friends and neighbors.
Teacher
Lillian Wangler They/Them
* B.A. in Environmental and Urban Studies
* Certificate of Interpretive Guiding from the National Association for Interpretation
Lillian grew up with oak-hickory woodlands, tallgrass prairie remnants, and the riparian zones outside of the area now called Chicago, IL. Their homeland belongs to the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ, Kiikaapoi, Hoocąk, Peoria, Myaamia, Kaskaskia, and Bodwéwadmi peoples. They were involved in invasive species removal, river cleanups, and advocacy efforts to remove the dams along the river from a young age and believed they’d “made it” when they became an intern at their beloved Red Oak Nature Center during college.
As a first-generation college student, Lillian graduated from the University of Chicago with a degree in Environmental and Urban Studies after realizing they should’ve pursued Ecology a few too many credits in. Lillian now lives in the Denver area, which belongs to the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ, Tséstho’e (Cheyenne), hinono’eino’ biito’owu’ (Arapaho), and Núu-agha-tʉvʉ-pʉ̱ (Ute) peoples. Their professional work has primarily centered on education, youth, and increasing outdoor access for systematically-excluded community members. In their free time, they enjoy creating bad art, trash-talking to old seasons of Survivor, and marveling at natural wonders of any scale.
Founding Teacher Owner
Kat Owens They/She
*CO Dept Early Childhood - Director and Coach Certified 2022
*Early Childhood Health Outdoors (ECHO) Coach Certified 2022
*MA Early Childhood Education, ASU 2017
*Teaching License, CO Birth - Eight 2017-23
*BFA Fine Arts, SVA NYC, NY 2010
*BEES Educator, CU Denver 2019
*CPR & Wilderness First Aid 2024
Kat is a synthesizer, who values understanding how things work. She has taught and facilitated early childhood environments both inside and outside the classroom for 10+ years. They are a white, queer, non-binary, chronically-ill, radical thinker.
Kat grew up on the salty coast of New England, on the land of the Wabanaki, Pennacook, Pawtucket, & Abenaki people.
After spending a decade in New York City, they moved out west. Landing in Denver in 2017, Kat has worked in a variety of preschool settings to hone her skills in nature-based, child-led learning. From Colorado Kids Academy, Head Start programs in Clayton Early Learning, and Denver Public Schools -they have been developing relationships with several local communities, incredible families & wildly talented colleagues.
Their passion lives in cultivating perceptual reciprocity through meaningful relationships with the human and non-human world. They are an expert guide in playing with and around wild nature-scapes. A careful observer of all beings, she finds out what makes people light up, especially through bird language and embodied water knowledge like the Selkie. Her apprenticeship was served with the Black Capped Chickadee. and salt water currents on the East and West Coasts of Turtle Island.
Founding Teacher Owner
Stephen “Boukman” Byrd
*Certified Life Coach 2022
*Certified Neuro-linguistic programming Coach 2023
*Basic Life Support certified 2023
*CPR & Wilderness First Aid 2024
Byrd is a galvanizer of diverse perspectives. He is an avid outdoorsman who has been introducing children of all ages to nature since 1996.
He has worked with youth in CO in several arenas; from the Colorado Division of Wildlife to the Salvation Army, to youth league coaching, grassroots youth outreach efforts, serving as the Chief Mentor of his own mentoring program that partnered with the YMCA for after-school enrichment programs, and as a senior student of the Tumfo Tu martial arts discipline. He has 26 years of experience diligently working to educate, protect, empower, and connect the youth to the outdoors.
Byrd is an autodidact, revolutionary educator, and knowledgeable outdoor survivalist. He has homeschooled his 6 and 9-year-old sons since they were both of pre-k age. His love and respect for nature is the reason he has accompanied hundreds of children on exploratory hikes through the Rocky Mountains.
Byrd's desire to preserve nature and create harmonious and regenerative educational and economic systems resulted in him beginning his journey as an advocate for fundamental changes with the Zeitgeist movement in 2009. The Zeitgeist movement was established to fundamentally shift away from market capitalism, which they described as structurally corrupt, wasteful of resources, and destructive to the planet.
Byrd's passion is educating and inspiring the youth, connecting them with nature, and working to create systems more in accordance with the human spirit and nature.
Teacher
Jess Whitney She/Her
*Bachelor’s of Science: University of Massachusetts, Amherst Natural Resource Conservation; Concentration in Wildlife Ecology/ Wildlife Biology
*CPR/First Aid certified ( 2023)
FEMA Multi-hazard Planning for *Childcare Certification (2023)
*CO Mandatory Reporter Training Certification (2023)
*CO Standard Precautions Certification (2023)
Jess is a bridge that guides pragmatic thinkers into the mysteries of nature. She grew up in urban Connecticut, on territory stolen from the Pequonnoc, Paugussett, Wappinger and Schagticoke people. She wandered North any chance she had, seeking snow, mountains, moose and solitude.
At 16 years old, she began funding her own higher education, knowing that her wild dreams do not fit the urban mold. She studied Wildlife, while taking courses in Herbalism, Yoga and Rock Climbing, where she began recognizing that regenerative ecology is equally important in both our personal systems and in our shared ecosystems, and that the two are profoundly connected. Jess was involved in several effective climate actions during this time, including catalyzing UMass to be the first Public University in history to divest from fossil fuels.
After completing wildlife research projects from New England to Tanzania, it became evident to Jess that she wanted to share experiences and her passion for nature. She began to focus her career in Nature Education, believing that knowledge is power to connect with ourselves, each other and the land around us. Jess was an Educator at a zoo and Audubon before she lived nomadically for several years, guiding tours in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. It wasn’t until 2023 that she realized educating the youth was a fulfilling, holistic practice; building intergenerational connections that support mutual social-emotional growth and deeper understandings of natural cycles.
Since leaping into the great web of Nature School Co-op, Jess has become rich with resources to continue her spiraling journey. She is now diving into unknown territories of her own ancestry and history, while independently studying Early Childhood Development. While not at Nature School Co-op, you can find Jess facilitating Youth Outdoor Programs through Highlands Ranch Community Association, guest teaching through Denver Public Schools, and curating nature- conscious fundraisers and events through the local music scene.
Wild & Free Staff
Michael Vandenbos
Bio Coming Soon!
We build this together!
with educators, families & children
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Denver Parks & Recreation
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Arapahoe County Open Space
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Bear Creek Greenbelt - coming soon!
Advisors & Partnerships
Jennifer Kollerup - Mycellium Director - ONB Collective Development
Center for Community & Wealth Building - Cooperative Development & Culture
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We honor Ryan Pleune as a founding member of this cooperative.
We do not, however endorse his use of any parts of this website, our programming, nor our site locations, as they are used without permission. Please feel free to contact us directly with any concerns.