Our Story

Hi my name is Rebekah Messer and I want to tell you the story of how Wild and Wonderful Forest School went from an acorn of an idea to an oak tree of a way of life for our family. My hope for your family is that Wild and Wonderful Forest School can be something that helps your little wild things grow into resilient human beings.

Our story begins with my life long dream of becoming a teacher. I love engaging a child’s natural  energy and curiosity about the world. I attended Morehead State University and the University of the Cumberlands where I received my degrees in Elementary Education and my Masters in Reading and Writing. After 6 years teaching in public school in West Virginia I became a mommy and left public education. 

After several years of full time mommying and a move to TN in 2021, I went back to the classroom in the pandemic and was devastated by the decline in public education that the pandemic revealed. I was not able to build relationships with my students and my students could not move their bodies or spend nearly enough time outside. Long story short..I couldn’t do it anymore. I had a choice to make. Either find a new career or set off to find a way to teach the way I know in my gut is right for children.

Shortly after resigning from public ed I started Wild and Wonderful in TN initially as a cottage school emphasizing play, spending as much time outside as possible, and learning based on a child’s natural interests. Little did I know in those early days that I was essentially already teaching well within the forest school philosophy! 

In the cottage school I loved the freedom to teach based on the relationship I had with each child and allowing them to move their bodies outside when they needed. I was probably like you in that I’d never heard of a forest school but once I learned what it was it all clicked.  My husband surprised me for Christmas and enrolled me in a life changing immersive forest school training and the rest is sort of history.

 I fell in love with the forest school philosophy and realized I was already running one by that point! I gained tremendous mentors that have helped me grow as a teacher and business owner. Now 4 years after I started Wild and Wonderful in TN we have brought our forest school back to WV where it truly belongs. I am so excited to share our vision with your family and community and my dream is to see forest schools pop up across the mountain state!