The Story Behind Wildfire Command: Guardians of the Greens
From the Writing Workshop to the World
In one of my Academies of Loudoun writing workshops, the classroom buzzed with focus as students prepared for their timed-test essays. The prompt they faced was simple yet profound: address the growing threat of wildfires. As they began crafting their responses, I noticed something troubling—many of them struggled, not with their writing skills, but with their knowledge of the topic itself.
The realization hit hard. These were bright, motivated students, yet they lacked the foundational understanding to write confidently about one of the most pressing environmental issues of our time. Their comments lingered in my mind -"We didn’t learn this in school."
That workshop became a turning point. If these students, brimming with potential, lacked the tools to approach wildfire education, what about others in classrooms and homes across the globe? It was a gap too significant to ignore.
Turning a Spark into a Flame
Inspired by my experiences and guided by my post-graduate studies at Harvard in Learning Design and Technology, I set out to design a solution. The answer came from the intersection of research and practice: game-based learning. I envisioned a tool that wasn’t just educational but engaging—a game that could empower learners of all ages to understand, prevent, and respond to wildfires.
From that vision, Wildfire Command: Guardians of the Greens was born. What started as a classroom supplement evolved into a global tool—a board game designed for families, after-school programs, and communities. By combining interactive play with critical environmental science, the game transformed abstract lessons into hands-on action.
A Mission Based in Empowerment
What began as a tool for middle schoolers quickly expanded into something larger.
What if every family could sit around the kitchen table and strategize ways to protect the planet? What if classrooms became hubs of innovation, equipping students not just to learn about wildfires but to lead in preventing them? What if the next generation grew up prepared to tackle one of the world’s most pressing environmental crises?
This is the future Wildfire Command: Guardians of the Greens envisions.
This groundbreaking educational game is more than a tool—it’s a catalyst for transformation. Through immersive gameplay, families, students, and communities will learn to think critically, act collaboratively, and make decisions that safeguard our environment.