Reconnect, Rejuvenate, and Reimagine Your Teaching Practice
As summer blooms around us, join fellow educators for a transformative weekend immersed in natural dyeing and ecological teaching practices. This retreat offers more than a break from routine—it's an opportunity to cultivate inspiration and connection before the new school year begins.
This retreat is open to all educators across all content areas, grade levels, and expertise. We can’t wait to meet you!
A Different Way of Doing Pedagogy
This summer gathering brings art and science together in tangible, take-home ways. Through hands-on natural dye workshops, foraging hikes, and collaborative discussions, you'll discover how natural dyeing can serve as a gateway to broader concepts of sustainability, place-based learning, and ecological awareness.
Our intention is simple yet profound: for you to leave feeling fulfilled, inspired, and connected—to nature, to fellow educators, and to your authentic teaching self.
What You'll Experience:
Hands-on Natural Dye Workshop: Create your own personalized swatch collection and dyed items while learning techniques you can bring to your classroom
Guided Foraging Walks: Discover local plants and their dyeing potential in the beautiful Indiana Dunes landscape
Rejuvenating Practices: Optional beach yoga, sound bath, and intention-setting sessions to nourish your wellbeing
Collaborative Learning: Share ideas, build curriculum, and connect with like-minded educators
Fireside Discussions: Engage in meaningful conversations about the future of ecological education
Time to Rest and Reflect: Balanced schedule with space for personal renewal
By Weekend's End, You'll Have:
Practical knowledge of summer plant dyeing processes and techniques
A beautiful collection of dyed swatches documenting your experiments with plants
Fresh ideas for integrating ecological concepts into your first weeks of school
Strategies for fostering belonging, flexibility, and authentic learning
A supportive network of educators to inspire you throughout the year
Renewed energy and purpose for the school year ahead
This summer retreat is your invitation to do less and experience more —
to laugh, share, create, and connect in ways that will resonate throughout your teaching year.
Our Guiding Principles:
Throughout this retreat, we'll explore key concepts that can transform your teaching practice:
Belonging: Finding our place in the ecological community
Flexibility: Embracing the beautiful unpredictability of natural processes
Service & Reciprocity: Understanding how we can give back to our environment
Authenticity: Discovering the rich diversity of nature's true colors
Unlearning: Challenging conventional narratives about our relationship with nature
Join us at the Indiana Dunes for this unique opportunity to grow as an educator while nurturing your own wellbeing.
Spaces are limited to ensure an intimate, meaningful experience.
Details:
Dates: August 1 - 3, 2025*
Location: Three Moons Fiberworks in Chesterton, Indiana
Cost: $375 per person, limited scholarships available.
Cost includes all dye materials, breakfast & snacks, 7-day Indiana Dunes National Park pass, and campground accommodations at Indiana Dunes National Park (BYO Tent, etc.)
Please note: Workshop provides 20 hours of Continuing Education Credits!
*Gathering begins Friday, August 1, 2025, at 5 pm and ends Sunday, August 3, by 2 pm. Optional pre-workshop outings and activity schedules will be shared with registered participants.
Your Teachers
Sarah and Jess, co-founders of Drift Lab Earth, are nationally certified educators with a combined 4 decades and 4 degrees in education. They’ve spent their career in classrooms, schools, barns, living rooms, backyards, and more, huddling over dyepots and other creative projects, having emergent discussions about life, art, systems, relationships, health, and culture. They also work in textile art, community advocacy, organizing community art projects, supporting local systems & regenerative farming, and working with textile supply chains, all while parenting & teaching!
Emily, founder of Marram Collaborative and managing director of the University of Chicago’s Ecological Field Station, has lived and worked with communities worldwide, sharing her passion and expertise for ecological education and place-based teaching through collaborative curriculum design and educational coaching. Emily works with educators, students, community leaders, and individuals to create educational transformation through ecological design. When she’s not teaching and designing, she’s growing native & bioregionally adapted plants for local garden projects, tending Chesterton’s micro-compost site, and running wild in the woods with her doggo, Roo.
This workshop is generously supported by grant funding from Indiana Dunes Tourism.