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Tricia Kyzer, Lead Teacher – Middle School

I have been outside teaching and learning alongside students for more than 15 years from the swamps to the mountains. I believe we all need spaces to notice the world around us, ask questions and make connections to allow real learning magic to happen.

I grew up in the islands of the tropical Florida Keys but now live in the beautiful Blue Ridge mountains.

I am a naturalist, a writer, and a woods wanderer, spending as much of my free time as I can hiking our local trails and getting to know our wild community. I have backpacked the Foothills Trail and the Art Loeb Trail and am game for backpacking the AT one day. I am a mother to four grown children who survived and now thrive because of their time being wild woods kids. My future dreams include, becoming a rappelling botanist, seeing a salamander’s highly choreographed mating dance, hiking the El Camino Del Santiago and naming a lichen.

Education & Experience

I have a BA in Elementary Education from North Greenville University, a South Carolina Statewide Master Naturalist Certification, as well as a Palmetto Environmental Educator Certification. For the past 15 years, I’ve worked with people of all ages leading them to make their own connections to our wild places. I’ve helped develop educational curriculums for Lake Conestee Nature Preserve and Jocassee Wild Child Outdoor Education, and my most recent work experience led me to work with students in mental health crises in wilderness settings.

A Few Favorites

  • The sourwood tree is my spirit tree, growing in this juxtaposition of arrow-straight new growth that gracefully bends and twists with age. Plus, it even flowers on my birthday!
  • Wrangell St. Elias National Park is my favorite place I have ever visited filled with glaciers, wildflowers, and wildlife, but I also love going to the Keys every year to go deep-sea fishing with my dad.
  • My favorite book is Landmarks by Robert Mcfarlane. He highlights the language of landscape as one of our ways of connecting to place. He writes about incredible authors in an incredibly poetic voice.