Get to Know Our Educators & Our ‘STREAM’ Approach
Education opportunities at the Ranch are led by experienced educators and emphasize place-based, hands-on learning experiences that connect learners to nature. We incorporate math, science, reading, technology, history and art into our lessons for a cross-curricular experience that will help learners engage deeply and encourage further exploration. Find out more below!
Meet Our Educators
Amy Milliron
Amy has experience in both public and private school settings from preschool through college as well as a background in homeschooling. Her expertise combines a unique blend of a formal teaching degree and Master's degree in curriculum and instruction with holistic management training and her personal farming and ranching experience. In 2015, she began offering homeschool programs, summer camps, classes, and tours on her 12-acre farm in Dripping Springs, Texas. Seeing the impact on the families in her previous community, she’s excited for this perfect opportunity to bring STREAM to Washington County at Deeply Rooted Ranch!
Carrie Deering
After nearly a decade in a Texas public school Carrie has extensive experience aligning learning experiences and curriculum with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills. She has trained in cross curricular connections and extensions for the advanced student and worked with TEA to evaluate questions for the 5th grade science STAAR, spent time tutoring children in first through sixth grade in math, science, reading and writing and spent some time as a homeschool parent. Carrie is licensed to teach in the State of Texas and brings nine years of classroom experience and a Master's degree in science education to Deeply Rooted Ranch. Carrie’s ability to understand the individual and cultivate their confidence and learning is truly a mastered skill that Carrie brings to our education team.
Turning STEAM into STREAM
You may have heard of STEM education, which stands for science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The STEAM approach adds an A for “arts” and builds on the scientific concepts through creative processes. This approach encourages learners to activate both sides of their brains, the right (creative) and left (logical), and uncover the natural overlap in disciplines when problem solving.
Here at Deeply Rooted Ranch, we’re taking it another step further. In STREAM, the R stands for Regenerative. Regenerative agriculture restores the health of soils, improves ecosystem services, offers additional revenue for farmers, and provides an opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and store carbon. Regeneration has many benefits and provides possibilities for planning towards generating new potential from the healthy working of living systems.
Applying the interdisciplinary and holistic qualities of STEAM, STREAM helps students learn to slow their minds and bodies down and connect with the Earth. Getting grounded in place helps them train their senses to observe closely and cultivates a respectful curiosity for the world around them.
Imagine a school day in which a student has the opportunity to sit in nature and just soak up its beauty. They have choices; just observe or draw or journal about their feelings, observations and any connections they have to previous learning. A time of active team-building is followed by an opportunity to explore soil samples with most of our senses… though we will likely skip taste!
We can use tools and ingenuity to discover the composition of the soil and figure out how to work with the soil. Our goal; to understand what healthy soil looks like and how we can help build healthy soil and improve the biodiversity in every area.
Ultimately, the goal of our STREAM approach is to introduce an ecological lens to your child’s everyday learning. Having an ecological lens, specifically to your local environment, allows for an understanding of the relationships among living organisms, including humans, and the planet we live on.
