My name is Leslie (Ms. Dressler) and I am so excited to be Crestwood's staff lead for Outdoor Ed this year. I love learning in the outdoors. My goal is to help Crestwood enhance our learning experiences across all grade levels by incorporating our beautiful outdoor learning spaces and environment directly into our curriculum where it fits best. Please consider joining us this year. There are many ways to get involved - volunteering with classrooms on Fridays with our Gardener in Residence, working on Outdoor Ed workdays (2-3 times per year), and more. Please reach out to me if you would like to figure out more about how you want to be involved!

Ok, a little more about me. I am a Cricket alum, a Cricket parent (though both my children are middle schoolers now - boohoo!), a second grade teacher, and I live just right down the hill in the Crestwood neighborhood. I love this school and this program. I have a mini-bernedoodle, Buddy. And I LOVE to be outside. This summer my family traveled all over in the outdoors - Maine with family, Oregon with friends and alpine skiing in July (true!), and Idaho for hiking, biking and rafting. All these places are beautiful. And we are lucky to have a school with an incredibly beautiful space for our children to learn and grow. 

Hi my name is Maddy and I will be the Gardener in Residence for this starting school year. I am so excited to be in an amazing program and dedicated school for garden education. I moved to Madison in 2022 after undergrad and started working in the design industry. In 2024, I left this field field to explore my passions and interests in community based work. I have since worked two seasons at CSA farms, worked at local farmers markets and community events with Rooted, and am currently a field crew at Troy Farm. This fall I am also happy to be starting UW Stevens Point's Sustainable and Resilient Food Systems graduate program. I am looking forward to meeting you all and Crestwood's students and sharing a love of things growing with kids and the outdoors.