Our Mission
Davis Forest School is a non-profit outdoor education and nature play organization building community through land-based programming.
Our passion is getting kids outside! Our goal is to promote and cultivate understanding of and empathy for the natural world, and for the local bioregion–the ecosystem of Putah Creek and the lower Sacramento River watershed–in particular, through encouraging exploration and curiosity, facilitating free play, and guiding children in artistic creation, active games, hiking, and quiet observation. We use a variety of gentle, age-appropriate teaching and mentoring methods to facilitate positive experiences between children and the natural world.
Davis Forest School has a mission to promote environmental justice through acknowledging the Indigenous history of the land and forging connections with local Indigenous individuals and organizations, and also through offering accessible and welcoming programming, raising money through grants and donations to offer reparations-based scholarships to Black and Indigenous families, and need-based scholarships to economically disadvantaged families.
Our Story
Davis Forest School started as a once-a-week nature play program, founded in the Spring of 2018 by Candice Wang, making use of the beautiful Putah Creek Riparian Reserve. The first session only had 6 kids in it, but it quickly grew as word spread! That fall, Candice moved away from Davis, and handed the reins over to Rosemary Roberts, who had had a child in that first session and was passionate about keeping this much-needed program alive. Rosemary grew the program to two and then three days a week, expanding its range and scope, until she moved away in 2020. A Covid-imposed hiatus was just what DFS needed to be able to pause, breathe and re-group, and following Candice’s return to Davis, sessions started up again in the Spring of 2021, this time with a small team of parents working behind the scenes to support the growth of the program. In the Winter of 2022, DFS officially became a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization!
In 2023, DFS began expanding to include programs along the banks of the American River in Sacramento, and in 2024 started running programs at Cache Creek Nature Preserve in Woodland. With afternoon and daytime drop-off programs, an incredibly popular Parent/Child program, week-long summer day camps, regular workshops for adults and families, and a brand new year-round Forest Kinder program, DFS is continuously growing to fill the needs of the local community and to help foster a sense of togetherness, both with each other and with the land.
Our Board of Directors
Anastasia Hermle - HUMMINGBIRD - Board Member (she/her)
Annastasia lives with her husband and son in Woodland, CA and grew up in Sacramento. She has her bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies, almost a decade of experience in school administration, and three years in project management. She has been a participant of Davis Forest School since 2022 as a way to foster her son’s connection with the natural world. She and her family enjoy spending time playing together outdoors, reading, creating art, and playing music.
Candice Wang - WILD ROSE - Founder/Director & Board Member (she/her)
Candice spent her childhood years in Los Angeles, and there was a piece of land that separated her family’s backyard from the freeway. Candice and her siblings called this space “Neverland” and they spent hours every day engaged in imaginative play between the woods and wildflowers that inhabited this land. As a mother raising two young daughters in Los Angeles, Candice realized the landscape of “play” had substantially changed from when she was a child, and found raising children in a city very limiting. After her family learned about forest schools, their lives completely changed. Candice discovered her mission of creating accessible nature programs for her communities, and founded Davis Forest School in early 2018. Candice also co-founded Atlanta Forest School in Atlanta, Georgia in 2019. Candice attended UC Davis as an undergraduate student and managed the local teen center for the City of Davis during her college years. She also volunteered as a camp counselor for several summers through the City. Candice has her MBA with an emphasis in Organizational Behavior from California Lutheran University. She is Wilderness First Aid and CPR certified, and trained in nonviolent communication.
Crystal Vagnier - Board Member (she/her)
Originally from Amityville, New York, Crystal spent her childhood years gallivanting through what small patches of forest and bogs Long Island suburbia had to offer. Her favorite childhood memories were of “trailing” through the woods, taking photographs of clover, chicory, and willow trees, and watching fireflies dance during humid summer nights. She holds a B.A. in English with an emphasis on Children’s Literature and Drama and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing with a focus on Travel Non-Fiction. In 2011, she taught English in the Republic of Georgia and continued her work with children and creative writing in Egypt and Turkey. In 2017, she relocated to Davis, California because she heard they had beautiful flowers and persimmons. Since 2021, she has been helping raise her niece and nephew and enjoys exploring Putah Creek and the UC Davis Arboretum with them!
Rosemary Roberts - Admin/Tech Coordinator & Board Member (she/they)
Rosemary grew up on Kalapuya lands in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, and has lived in a variety of bioregions, including in western Europe, eastern Canada, and southern and northern California. With a background in cultural anthropology, midwifery, permaculture, wilderness awareness and herbalism, Rosemary ran Davis Forest School from Fall 2018 to Spring 2020, and deeply enjoyed putting into practice a great passion: helping kids get outside and get dirty (a rather sneaky way of fostering awareness and care of our more-than-human world). Having moved back to Oregon in 2020, Rosemary is grateful to be able to continue supporting the program and community from afar. In addition to parenting and unschooling with two wild kiddos, Rosemary is a freelance sexual/reproductive health educator, and handcrafts herbal tea blends from a rural intentional community near Eugene, OR.
Sonsie Hopper - RED FOX - Board Member (she/her)
Sonsie was born in Palo Alto, CA and grew up in CA and Minnesota. Sonsie’s favorite part of growing up was spending time in the woods playing make believe with friends, and paddle boating, canoeing, fishing and swimming in the Minnesota lakes. Sonsie currently lives in Sacramento and loves visiting areas like Coloma, Pollock Pines, Nevada City and Tahoe. She loves hiking, swimming and camping with her family, including 3 kids. Her greatest joy is being out in nature, slowing down, observing and enjoying all the amazing gifts of Mother Nature.
Sonsie works full-time in HR for a Montessori TK-8 school and brings her knowledge of HR in the educational space. She is also a trained yoga teacher, enjoys gardening, and attending kirtan and women’s retreats in her spare time.
Steve Clossick - SHASTA - Board Member (he/him)
Steve Clossick is the owner of The Good Scoop, an ice cream business located in Dixon, California. Steve is a retired educator in which he spent 25 years as a teacher, coach, and principal. Steve has served as Vice President of Cesar Chavez PTA, Chairperson of Cesar Chavez Site Council, President of the Charter Square Homeowners Association, and Treasurer of Korematsu PTO. One of Steve’s passions is supporting cancer non-profit organizations. One of his ongoing endeavors is supporting Breast Cancer Prevention Partners (BCPP) and its annual fundraising climb up Mount Shasta. Steve is a seven-time Ironman finisher and has completed numerous triathlons, marathons, and endurance events. Steven holds a master’s degree in education administration from Benedictine College and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Park University.
In Steve’s spare time, he likes to spend time with his two children, Alex and Maya, and traveling with his wife, Jennifer. Steve is known as the CDO of the household and carries that title knowing that he is 4th on the pecking order of titles in his household.