The Evolution of BEan in Nature
The whole BEan family together.
It was back in 2012 when the very first session of BEan in Nature was held.
At the time, Founder Marisa Bean’s children were attending Riekes Nature Awareness, which was located in Woodside, California. It was the only authentic Ancestral survival awareness and Nature Awareness program Marisa could find, that offered all day sessions from preschool to high school age.
Soon enough, Marisa began teaching at Riekes, and was an instructor there for six years.
“I learned a lot at my sister program – as a parent with my boys in the program, and as a teacher. We didn’t have anything like this in San Jose,” said Marisa. “There were only a few wild outdoor programs, but none that had staff at this caliber, back then. I just knew our children needed to be in that program and outdoors worked so well for our own homeschooling education.”
As a child, Marisa’s love for the outdoors began at an early age. Growing up on a farm in Buellton, California Marisa and her family devoted their time to farming, raising their own food, tending the land growing vegetables and riding their horses on the hillsides in her backyard.
“Growing up connected to the earth like this, was the most important part of my childhood. It formed my deep connection to the outdoors, gave me confidence, and shaped my growth as a conscious earth steward,” said Marisa.
Marisa graduated from SJSU with a Bachelor’s in Psychology. At the time, she had her hopes set on being a Marriage and Family Counselor.
But those plans changed soon after she got married and realized she wanted to have children.
“When I was raising my son Jeremy, it came back to me…that feeling…knowing that he needed to be outside, climbing trees and exploring the wild places,” said Marisa. “Then I had my son Joshua, who was really active, and the outdoors suited his learning needs in all ways.”
As her kids started to grow, Marisa felt the calling to homeschool. As part of their home education, she believed that finding a nature program, where they could be outdoors all day and build friendships, was essential.
When she found Riekes Nature Awareness, she enrolled her boys right away. Soon after that, she started teaching for the program. Within two years, she knew she had to start her own program in San Jose, closer to where she and her family lived. She sat down with Ken Clarkson, the Riekes director at the time, to ask for his blessing.
His reaction was positive.
“Please do. We need to scale the system fast. Our earth is in crisis. Start your program,” Ken told her.
Marisa didn’t hesitate. She launched BEan in Nature through the A Team homeschool program, opening her first Eco Earth Science Investigations sessions and growing a small Nature Awareness program at Bernal Gilman Ranch, just down the road from her home.
“I birthed BEan in Nature, quite literally,” said Marisa. “She’s my third child. She is literally my baby.”
As BEan in Nature evolved, Marisa saw the growth in her own two children as well. Her sons became junior leadership mentors at age 9, then Leaders In Training at age 11 and 12 and embraced leadership roles in teaching soon after, in BEan IN NATURE.
“I was teaching when they were mentoring in my program. We created LIT, which is our 12 and up Leader in Training program,” shared Marisa. “My boys stepped into leadership naturally.”
Marisa with her son Josh.
In its 12 years of existence, BEan in Nature has brought a sense of wonder, exploration, and adventure to the lives of hundreds of children through year round Nature Led programs and Wilderness and Ancestral Skills summer nature programs. There are no plans to stop BEan’s momentum anytime soon.
BEan in Nature is getting ready to host its next series of summer sessions starting in June for children ages 3-16. With programs like Wilderness Survival, Ancestral Survival Skills with Archery, Teen/Tween LIT/Leadership, Fledgling Forest Explorers, and Girls’ Ancestral Survival Fairy Camp, there’s a little something for everyone.
“BEan in Nature has touched the lives of so many kids – and these are our next earth stewards,” said Maria. “The ones who will figure out the technology and know what we need to do to make our future better.”