Copper Learning Academy

11/30/2025

Does your child love hands-on learning? Mine too!

That’s why the core of our educational programming will be child-led and nature-based 🌿

If this sounds like an environment your child would thrive in, head to our website to subscribe for updates or join the wait list 🫶🏻

📍St. John’s, Michigan
🗓️ Opening 2026
🌿 Nature-Based K-5 School
🐝 copperlearningacademy.com

11/28/2025

Following my dreams so that other parents & kids can realize theirs 🥹🫶🏻

It all started when my daughter Linnea aged out of a nature based preschool and I was faced with finding what’s next (spoiler alert, there wasn’t anything comparable)

So I did what any reasonable parent would do and I sought out to build what my daughter needed—and that’s how Copper Learning Academy was born 🌻

This school is for children who lead with curiosity, compassion, and creativity. For parents who want a homeschool feel, but with more flexibility. For educators who are passionate about child-led learning. And for a community in need of adaptable schooling options.

If this sounds like something you or your child would love, head to our website and join the waitlist or subscribe for updates as we near our opening

📍St. John’s, Michigan
🗓️ Opening 2026
🌿 Nature-Based K-5 School
🐝 copperlearningacademy.com

11/27/2025

✨ Magic & Meaning Advent Calendar✨

I’ve been working on something special for families this season, and I’m so excited to finally share it.

This year, I wanted to create something simple, warm, and meaningful—something that brings families closer, sparks curiosity, and reminds us to slow down and savor the small moments. So I put together a 25-day Advent Calendar filled with tiny adventures you can do together all month long.

These aren’t big, complicated activities. They’re gentle invitations into connection—
🌿 little nature walks
💛 small acts of kindness
✨ cozy moments by glow light
📚 stories, gratitude, laughter, and wonder

The kinds of memories that last.
The kinds of traditions kids ask for year after year.

If you’d like your own December of Magic & Meaning Advent Calendar, you can download it here: https://copperlearningacademy.com/advent

I hope it brings your family joy, warmth, and togetherness this season. 💚
Here’s to a month of tiny adventures and big memories.

11/23/2025

What happens in your head when you answer 27+48?

I saw this question in my Facebook feed today, and it instantly pulled me back into the ways I used to struggle in school. The memorization side of math never came naturally to me. Spelling memorization was another battle.

Now, in my 40’s, if I'm honest with you—I still have to work at both of them. There are moments when it still makes me feel a little small, unworthy. As a kid I believed that if I didn’t master those skills, I would be a failure. I truly thought struggling meant I was broken.

But here’s the part younger-me never knew:
✨ I’m actually smart. Just… differently.

The TRUTH is:
🧮 I understand accounting on a deep, intuitive level.
📚 In 2023, I read 500+ books, 2024 was 600+, 2025 will be a “slow” year, I’ll be just under 300.
👨‍💼 My Score.org business coach told me I’m one of his favorites because of how I show up, take advice, and immediately implement it.
🧠 I’ve written pages and pages of policies, curriculum plans, and operational documents—both big-picture vision and tiny details.
🌿 I create environments where kids and families feel safe, welcomed, and understood.
🌈 I think in stories, visuals, metaphors, and connections… not worksheets.
🔍 I problem-solve creatively when the “traditional” answer doesn’t work.
🗺 I run a household, homeschool my daughter, and build a school—all while being neurodivergent.

So, what happens in your head when you answer 27+48? Here’s what happens in mine:

2 and 4 is 6
8 and 8 is 16
Minus 1
15
Plus 60
75 is the answer

It’s not linear. It’s probably not the easiest way. But it works for my brain.

And that’s the whole point.

I want kids to know that even if something isn’t their area of genius, it doesn’t make them less capable or less intelligent. I want them to discover tools and strategies that work for their unique minds. We are not meant to be cookie cutters. We are all beautifully, wonderfully made.

Curious to know more about Copper Learning Academy?

Sign up for a connection call with me—I’d love to hear about the learning dreams you have for your child.

📅 https://calendly.com/copperlearningacademy/family-connection-call

11/20/2025

Don’t mind the rats crawling on me, I put them there 🤣

The real reason I’m here is to share that I’m opening a nature-based K-5 school in St. John’s Michigan! And I know there are parents like me who are looking for other educational options for their kids

If this sounds like you, follow along as I open my own school, built by parents, for their kids 🫶🏻

📍St. John’s, Michigan
🗓️ Opening 2026
🌿 Nature-Based K-5 School
🐝 copperlearningacademy.com

11/19/2025

What if we encouraged exploration and creativity?

At Copper Learning Academy, we’re approaching education differently

With student-led, nature-based curriculum, our students get what they need to succeed

If this sounds like the type of educational experience you want for your kids, follow us or head to our website & join the waitlist

📍St. John’s, Michigan
🗓️ Opening 2026
🌿 Nature-Based K-5 School
🐝 copperlearningacademy.com

11/18/2025

Lansing families: this one’s for you!

Whether you’re looking for an alternative to traditional schooling, or are homeschooling and looking for supplemental field trips or curriculum, Copper Learning Academy might be the right fit 🌿

Opening in 2026, we’re schooling made for the kids who love nature and the parents who want more flexibility 🫶🏻

If this sounds like an environment your child would thrive in, visit our website to learn more and join our waitlist

📍St. John’s Michigan
🌿 K-5 Nature School
🐝 copperlearningacademy.com

11/17/2025

Kids learn best when they feel free to explore. 🌿

That’s the heart of Copper Learning Academy — a new kind of K–5 school right here in St. Johns that’s rooted in curiosity, movement, and meaning.

Instead of desks and tests, our students will spend their days discovering the world in the world — learning math through measuring leaves, science through soil, and creativity through the colors of fall. 🍁

When children learn through nature, they develop not only knowledge, but resilience, compassion, and wonder. And we think that’s something worth growing. 🌻

Follow our journey to see how you can support or join our community of curious learners! 💛

📍St. John’s, Michigan
🌿 Nature-Based K-5 School
🐝 copperlearningacademy.com

11/13/2025

Today was so much fun!

The Briggs District Library hosted us for a really joyful outdoor event, and it honestly felt like a little glimpse of Copper Learning Academy magic coming to life.

We set up several hands-on, nature-based curiosity stations — and the kids jumped right in:

🐻 Build a Hibernation Den – creating cozy winter homes for tiny animals
💤 Who’s Sleeping? Sorting Game – discovering which animals hibernate, migrate, or stay active
🥶 Warm vs. Cold Water Experiment – comparing temperatures, counting to 10, and choosing which water they would hibernate in
❄️ Hibernation Art Table – drawing animals resting in their winter dens
🧘 Humans Hibernate Too Station – reflecting on how we rest and recharge in winter
📚 Story Corner – with beautiful hibernation books the library kindly pulled for us

Standing there, watching kids completely absorbed in learning and joy, it hit me — this is the dream happening in real time. This is exactly why Copper exists.

Every time we gather, I’m reminded how powerful community is, and how ready families are for something different… something connected, meaningful, and full of wonder.

Thank you to everyone who bundled up and came out today — you made it magical. I can’t wait for the next one. 🌿💛🌻

11/13/2025

Mother Nature is such a beautiful artist!

11/12/2025

It might be chilly outside, but nature never stops teaching. ❄️

Tomorrow we’re partnering with the Briggs District Library to host a family drop-in event all about hibernation — exploring how animals slow down, rest, and stay cozy through winter.

It will be a simple, family-led way to celebrate learning outdoors — the Copper way. 🌿

📍 108 E Railroad St, Saint Johns, MI 48879
🕒 Thursday, November 13th 3:00 - 4:00pm
💛 Free + family friendly

Send a message to learn more

11/12/2025

Today, we remember the ones who chose to stand guard.

Veterans Day always brings a different kind of reflection for me. The branches of our military — every person who has served, every person who is currently serving, and every family who stands behind them — they chose to sacrifice so the rest of us can experience safety, opportunity, and freedom in our daily life. Those choices… they matter. Deeply.

As I’m building Copper Learning Academy, this is one of the values that feels important to honor. Pride in our country does not have to be political — and being thankful for those who serve is something I believe we can teach with reverence, respect, and grounded clarity. At school, we will teach flag etiquette. We will say the Pledge of Allegiance. And we will show children that it’s okay to be proud of where they live, to honor those who protect it, and to understand the meaning behind symbols we see every day.

Veterans Day is a reminder that there are people who protect, people who stand up, and people who choose service — even when it costs them something. We see you. We honor you. We appreciate you.

If you are a Veteran — or have someone in your family line that is — I would love to honor them here. Comment below with their name + branch so we can thank them. ❤️🤍💙

(Photo from the early 2000’s when the President George W Bush spoke at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.)