This week marks the launch of the Outdoor School for All Maine Students program, with more than 1,000 students in grades 4–8 attending immersive multi-day programs at outdoor learning centers across the state this fall. The initiative is made possible thanks to $450,000 in private foundation support, with major contributions from the Betterment Fund, Horizon Foundation, Leonard C. & Mildred F. Ferguson Foundation, Onion Foundation, and Quimby Family Foundation. These funds are helping to underwrite the costs for students and classroom teachers to attend an outdoor school learning center. Maine joins Oregon, Washington, and Minnesota as states with ratified commitments to outdoor learning for all public school students. Unlike those states, Maine currently relies on private funding. The group estimates that when fully funded at $6 million annually, the program will reach up to 14,000 students each year—making it accessible to every student in grades four through eight statewide. One of the first groups of students to receive funding for Outdoor School programs are the 7th grade students from Sanford Middle School attending a 3 day/2 night program at The Ecology School in Saco this week with additional funding from Tom’s of Maine. “We’ve been working for years to try