“Elena and Amelea bring not only their passion for teaching/mentoring and their love of nature, but also their clear commitment to helping build and nurture the children’s social and emotional well-being. They have a deep understanding of ecology, early childhood development, and the need to foster social justice awareness in an age appropriate way.”
Nature-based learning through play has been a theme throughout both sisters’ careers.
Both have expertise in environmental/garden/farm education, herbalism, beekeeping,"Coyote Mentoring," cooking/crafting with natural materials, social emotional learning and conflict resolution with children.
They also have their own music project and love to weave storytelling and songs into this work.
Amelea and Elena have dreamt of starting their own program since their youth. They are now excited to combine their passions to create a magical space where tactile learning can happen. Through their 10+ years of working in this field, they have witnessed ways in which nature connection enhances children’s understanding of themselves, relationships to others and the world we live in.
Elena Canaris
Co-Founder, Director
Lead Teacher
she/her/they/them
Working with children has been a lifelong passion for Elena. She aims to empower children through nature exploration, story sharing and connecting deeply with each other and place.
Elena obtained her BA in Environmental Education, with a focus on early childhood development, from Warren Wilson College in North Carolina. During that time, she also co-led a multi-age nature awareness based homeschool group for the Forest Floor Program. She held a Lead Mentor position at the Living Earth School in Virginia, with their Woodland Girl’s, summer camp, and forest exploration programs for children K-5. Many of her positions focus on ancient ways & survival skills, wild/edible plant tending, and music/storytelling. In 2014, Elena was a Teacher-in-Residence at Slide Ranch, facilitating farm, trail, ocean and garden based pre-K-10 field trips, Family Days, and summer camp. She then taught Pre-School, Kindergarten and Family programs at Berkeley Forest School and was also a mentor at Weaving Earth’s Wild Tenders youth program. In her free time she enjoys exploring trails with her dog Tuley, playing banjo, singing songs, water color painting, dabbling in herbal medicine and climbing trees.
Trainings: Joseph Cornell's Flow Learning, 8 Shield’s Coyote Mentoring, and Weaving Earth: Center for Relational Education Beyond Boundaries and Fire Tenders.
Contact
elena@hellohills.org
Emily Ruebl
Lead Teacher
she/her
Emily was raised in part by the oak woodlands, flowing freshwater and rich soil of the Upper Midwest, where her love for nature and earth tending began at a young age through daily encounters with a few beloved backyard plant allies. During and after her studies in Horticulture and Landscape Architecture at UW-Madison, she worked in public gardens and facilitated programs at local public elementary and middle school gardens. She moved to California in 2013 to work as a teacher-in-residence at Slide Ranch, an educational farm serving visitors from across the Bay Area. Afterwards, she taught at the East Bay Waldorf School, where she lead the 1st-8th grade gardening and woodworking programs for 4 years, focused on the intersections of practical arts and craft, nature connection and social emotional learning.
Recently, she was an assistant mentor with Outdoor Kids OT, a nature-based therapeutic playgroup in the East Bay. She is currently completing certificate programs in both horticultural therapy from the Horticulture Therapy Institute and ecopsychology from the Holos Institute. She has completed a year-long program in leadership skills from the Regenerative Design Institute and is trained in the 8 Shields mentorship model. Her interests and continued learning center on how individual and collective healing, connection and growth can be creatively and equitably supported in nature-based spaces.
Amelea Canaris
Co-Founder, Director
Lead Teacher
she/her/they/them
From 2014-2019, Amelea taught and lead the elementary school Garden Program for grades k-5 at Park Day School, in Oakland. For the past 10+ years, Amelea has engaged in work that creates more awareness with youth concerning environmental, farming, food & nutrition issues. Amelea has studied theatre, dance and art education and received her BA in Environmental Education at Warren Wilson College where she developed skills in curriculum writing and outdoor education as well as program planning. They have been trained in Joseph Cornell’s "flow learning" and Sharing Nature program, participated in the Nature Play Corps, and worked with the Natural Learning Initiative in North Carolina. In 2012, Amelea was a teacher-in-residence at the educational non-profit farm, Slide Ranch in Muir Beach, CA. Post Slide Ranch, Amelea was a teacher assistant for Compass Green's Mobile Greenhouse Project, a play leader at Adventure Playground in Berkeley, and a nature awareness instructor for Riekes Center and Synapse elementary school in Menlo Park as well as at Wild Tenders. Recently, they received training in deep nature connection, permaculture design and 8-shields mentorship from the Weaving Earth Center for Relational Education. In their free time, Amelea enjoys dancing, running, spending time with loved ones, hiking, making herbal medicine magic, bicycling, singing to the moon and cooking with friends.
Contact
amelea@hellohills.org
Tuley
Four-legged Teacher & Friend
she/her/they/them
Our program dog, Tuley, became a part of the Hello Hills team in 2020, as an integral part of our Saturday Programs. Tuley joined us full time in 2021-2022 for our Forest Learning Program. As an agile runner, loving friend and playful member of the group, Tuley brings much joy and learning to our daily interactions. When someone feels sad, one of the first recommendations is “Go get a Tuley hug!” Tuley is excited and eager to assist the group in any way she can, whether it be taking the kids for a walk, helping keep everyone together on trail hikes, or keeping us safe in public spaces, she is on board.