Drew Harwell
Director and Lead Teacher Preschool (T/Th), Afterschool, and Summer Camp
Director and Lead Teacher Preschool (T/Th), Afterschool, and Summer Camp
Drew Harwell is the founder and director of Pathfinders Nature Mentoring. He is a nature awareness and Permaculture mentor with over 22 years of experience working with children, teens and adults in nature and garden settings. As a child, he spent a lot of time exploring the Foothills and Baylands, as well as gardening at the community garden behind the main library in Palo Alto with his family. At the age of 17 he spent a month backpacking in the Wind River Wilderness of Wyoming with the National Outdoor Leadership School. Those experiences nurtured his passions and planted the seeds for his career.
His style of mentoring is to help students explore nature through their individual passions and creativity. He uses experiential activities, storytelling, songs and the art of questioning to inspire curiosity in others in developing their relationship with the natural world. Whether he is working in the garden or wandering in the hills, he loves to connect people to the healing powers of nature.
He has a BA from Prescott College in Environmental Restoration and was trained in nature awareness and regenerative design at the Regenerative Design Institute. He is a lecturer in the Stanford Graduate School of Education, where he mentors Stanford Teacher Education Program (STEP) teacher candidates in garden education for elementary schools. He has worked as a guide and mentor for the Exploring a Sense of Place program, Tender Tracks and the Riekes Center He is the former manager of the Common Ground Demonstration Garden and the Stanford Community Farm. He loves to spend family time with his wife and two young children exploring the Foothills and Baylands.
Devon Quirk
Lead Preschool Teacher (M/W/F)
Lead Preschool Teacher (M/W/F)
Devon Quirk is an educator and counselor with 15 years of experience working with children, adults, and families. Growing up in the East Bay, she developed a deep love for the landscape, plants, and animals of the San Francisco Bay Area. As an undergraduate at UC Santa Cruz, she deepened this relationship by studying California botany, ethnobotany, and archaeology. These experiences showed her the value of nature and placed-based education and inspired her to become an educator.
After earning her Masters in Education from UC Santa Cruz, Devon moved to Mendocino County, where she lived for 10 years. There, she worked as a classroom teacher and school counselor with at-risk youth, and provided in-home behavioral services for children with developmental disabilities and their families. During this time she also earned her Masters Degree in School Counseling.
Devon met her wife in Mendocino County, and together they decided to return to the BayArea, where they both grew up. They now live in Portola Valley on the beautiful ranch property where her wife grew up. Since returning to the Bay Area, Devon earned her Doctorate in Counseling studying the experiences of mindfulness training for parents of children with autism. She became a certified mindfulness teacher and facilitated classes for parents. Last summer, she and her wife welcomed their first child. Devon’s work as an educator is driven by a passion for understanding and connection, as well as a curiosity about what makes us healthy and whole individuals and communities. She is excited for the opportunity to return to her love of learning in nature, and deepen her skills as an outdoor educator.
Savannah Woods
Afterschool Teacher
Afterschool Teacher
Savannah is an outdoor educator with a passion for getting children excited to learn about the natural world. Growing up in the suburbs of Los Angeles, she fondly remembers tromping through the backyard with her brother, creating imaginary worlds with mud-pie bakestands and police officers on tricycles. At age 18, she left to study at UC Davis where she majored in Human Development and graduated with honors. At UC Davis, her environmental education career took off when she joined Sprout Up, a nonprofit group that brought outdoor science education to first and second graders in the region. At school, she also interned in a research lab that focused on how preschoolers developed and utilized self-regulation strategies. Fascinated by the research, Savannah pioneered her own project to study how these young children evoked emotion regulation strategies during developmentally challenging situations. Her work amassed to a final thesis and poster, which she presented at the Western Psychological Association’s 2017 national conference.
After graduating, Savannah accepted an internship in the Bay Area at Hidden Villa. Here, she worked as an environmental education intern, introducing preschoolers and elementary schoolers to the 1600 acre farm and wilderness preserve she called home. She gave tours nearly everyday and worked hard to help her students begin to cultivate a curiosity for the natural world. She is thrilled to now be with Pathfinders and to continue to grow inquisitiveness and empathy in the students she works alongside.
Savannah is an outdoor educator with a passion for getting children excited to learn about the natural world. Growing up in the suburbs of Los Angeles, she fondly remembers tromping through the backyard with her brother, creating imaginary worlds with mud-pie bakestands and police officers on tricycles. At age 18, she left to study at UC Davis where she majored in Human Development and graduated with honors. At UC Davis, her environmental education career took off when she joined Sprout Up, a nonprofit group that brought outdoor science education to first and second graders in the region. At school, she also interned in a research lab that focused on how preschoolers developed and utilized self-regulation strategies. Fascinated by the research, Savannah pioneered her own project to study how these young children evoked emotion regulation strategies during developmentally challenging situations. Her work amassed to a final thesis and poster, which she presented at the Western Psychological Association’s 2017 national conference.
After graduating, Savannah accepted an internship in the Bay Area at Hidden Villa. Here, she worked as an environmental education intern, introducing preschoolers and elementary schoolers to the 1600 acre farm and wilderness preserve she called home. She gave tours nearly everyday and worked hard to help her students begin to cultivate a curiosity for the natural world. She is thrilled to now be with Pathfinders and to continue to grow inquisitiveness and empathy in the students she works alongside.