Today we’d like to introduce you to Erika McDonald.
Hi Erika, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Honeybee was founded by Julie DeWolfe in early 2015. She first opened the doors of her home and outdoor-based childcare in mid-2015. She had a small group of kids coming a few hours a day for 2-3 days a week and ran the program alone. She was passionate about the outdoors, child-led education, and yoga- these largely became the pillars in which honeybee stood in the early years. I met Julie through a post she made in the Ogden Outdoor Group on Facebook. She was looking for someone to volunteer for her summer 2016 programs and I was very interested. I had just graduated from WSU in the spring of 2015 with a bachelor’s in Health Promotion. My job opportunities were plenty but my motivation to follow through with what I had been educated on was not there. I was working as a server at red lobster and making more than enough money to support myself so I took the leap and decided to challenge myself with a position in outdoor education. At the time I found Julie and Honeybee I had just told myself “I will be happy with a career when it is in Ogden and outdoors”. Boom, the next thing I knew, I was living my exact dream. When I first went to visit Julie I was able to see the kids, who were just about to end their 2015 school year with Julie and one other employee, and I fell instantly in love. I remember during my interview being asked “why do you want to work here?” To which I replied, “this is the only type of school I would send my own children to”. I haven’t followed through on that statement as my only children are two fantastic and rowdy border Aussies… but if the day comes my posterity will have a place to grow up that supports them as precious tiny humans with brains that are still developing. I say that with explicit implications that other early childhood options may not support healthy brain development with the latest research-based methods as outdoor and child-led education does.
Honeybee has gone through the most beautiful evolution since the day I joined the team in the summer of 2016. I was able to purchase the rights to the honeybee name with a small amount of gear that we rent out to families in December of 2018. At that time we had transitioned into a full childcare center operating out of what is basically the back backyard of a charter school in Harrisville. From 2018-2020 Honeybee and myself were really trying to find our voice, direction and platform to stand on. When the pandemic shut the nation down we closed our doors to our fully state-licensed childcare center and took to the trails. I remember thinking that although things were so uncertain that I was thankful to have the opportunity to still be spending time outside with the tiny humans that I loved. I was able to support their families in being able to continue working and they supported me by keeping my mental health in line.
Summer 2020 came and I almost closed my doors… I had stopped hiking with the kids and was ready for a dramatic change. So with that, I decided to make the most impactful and life-altering change of my career so far. I moved the school into my home. I found success when my current director reached out to me just around the same time I decided to move the school into my home and reinvigorated my passion for outdoor education.
Our 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 school years were largely just her and I with a group of 10 students Monday – Friday. We learned so much… especially that working 40 hours a week endlessly was burning our passion down to a flicker.
May 2022 was the last time we ever worked a Friday and we will only ever offer volunteer opportunities on those days going forward. We have found such a significant shift in our mental and relational health since prioritizing rest.
This year we made room for three more programs and we now have EIGHT staff members. We started our 2022-2023 school year in September and have been successful running programs for children ages 18 months – 12 years. The success of these programs has led both the director and myself to create new programs that started this month (December) and will start next month.
Honeybee will officially have a homeschool support program as a physical location just a few blocks from where we operate currently and will be our first-ever second location operating concurrently with another program!
We are looking forward to continuing our caregiver and me playgroups, young bees Preschool on campus, hiking groups, forest kindergarten, and our homeschool support groups for not only the upcoming 2023-2024 school year but also for our very sought-after summer programs.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
At times it has been tricky. Some of my personal challenges have been being handed a business with a great-intentioned founder that lacked actual business skills. I personally knew I needed to get more knowledge on how to run a successful business but needed to act as a caregiver myself to make my bottom line make sense and make sure my daily operations were to that standard of care that I wanted to put my name on. With having a full-time job, running admin and wanting to still be social, I didn’t ever have the energy to get that education. Over the years I’ve picked up tips but recently just finished a course that was offered through the state for free at SLCC specifically for home-based childcare businesses. I have a succinct business plan almost four years later to the day that I bought Honeybee. I was able to do that because I found amazing supportive and educated staff members to place my confidence in to take my position as a lead teacher.
Learning to manage staff that I hired because they were my friends was a wild ride… now I only hire those that come to me seeking this specific type of employment. Being able to be outdoors in Utah’s dramatic weather is not for the faint of heart. But I do believe anyone that has the determination and follow-through can do it!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
We are the first and as far as I know fully outdoor nature school that is state licensed. We pride ourselves in making sure the children are the ones making the decisions about their education. We are a community-first organization that has adjusted our hours, programs and teaching styles as we have gained more education about what the best research proved education methods are. Our early childhood programs have a 1:5 ratio allowing us to expose the children to a moderate amount of risk without any actual safety concerns. Our older kids 6-13 right now (working on getting up to 18 years) get to choose which four geographic regions they want to study as a group each year. After fully immersing ourselves in the culture of the region we chose we get to support them in creating the projects of their dreams! This year we have students building fairy kingdoms, recreating Ben logins peaked out of recycled electronics and making a movie about zombies in Ogden. Allowing our students to choose their projects opens up an opportunity for much deeper learning than the sanctioned and sanitized topics that are offered at other schools.
Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
My favorite childhood memory is when I was absolutely convinced I was going to be a traveling magic rodeo clown who lived in an RV. My mom wanted to support me in following my dreams and set up a time for us to tour the RV buses of my dreams! I remember being there with my mom and twin brothers who were in a stroller (now 23) and just knowing that I could do anything I wanted. Even if it wasn’t to live in a bus.
Contact Info:
- Website: Www.honeybeenatureschool.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/honeybeenatureschool/
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/?tbua=1#!/profile.php?id=100063547514428
