Teaching in the Rain: The Story of North Cascades Institute

In the early 1980s, five young men who loved teaching, the natural world, and the North Cascades dreamed of creating a field school to teach about the place and its many histories-natural and cultural. The North Cascades Institute emerged from that dream in 1986 with the help of North Cascades National Park. This is the story of how the Institute grew from humble beginnings to become a model nonprofit environmental education organization admired throughout the United States. Over the 35 years chronicled in this book the Institute served over 150,000 students in its Mountain School and youth programs, and many adults in a range of offerings. The author was part of this remarkable story and provides unique insights into how the dream was realized through imagination, hard work, collaborative partners, a measure of luck, and persistence in the face of various crises. The Institute continues to thrive today.

Review :
"In recounting the first 35 years of North Cascades Institute, John Miles shows how the tenacity and visions of a few can reveal the wonders and intricacies of nature to young and old. Teaching In The Rain, The Story Of North Cascades Institute serves as a deftly crafted instruction manual for how the National Park Service and its allies can strengthen the human connection with the natural world." - Kurt Repanshek, Founder and Editor-in-Chief, National Parks Traveler "John Miles' lessons on the origins of North Cascades Institute include vision, passion, persistence, luck, leadership, and partnerships that aligned to create one of the best environmental education organizations in America." - Jonathan Jarvis, Chief of Resources, North Cascades National Park 1985-1991, NPS Director 2009-2017 "This important book is an essential guide to what it takes to direct education meaningfully in this age of environmental stress and to marshal the common ground of community to develop skills and shape attitudes necessary to address the environmental challenges we all face." - Tony Angell, Artist/Educator, Seattle, WA "Like an expert guide on a nature walk, John C. Miles knows the details, and he knows how to weave them into a story. Filled with behind-the-scenes insights, Teaching in the Rain is an irreplaceable history of an iconic Northwest institution." - Thor Hanson, author of Hurricane Lizards and Plastic Squid "If every eco-region had something like North Cascades Institute, and someone like John to tell us all about it, we might actually scrape through our ecological crisis in good shape. As it is, this book gives me hope." - Robert Michael Pyle, author of The Butterflies of Cascadia, Wintergreen, and The Thunder Tree https: //www.kenwilcox.com/p/review-teaching-in-the-rain