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Play Time and Wanderlust
October 2025
Out Teach: Big Digs and Big Plans for Science Education
Credit: Ben Swanson/Denver Broncos
Volunteers from the Denver Broncos help build an outdoor science lab for Out Teach.
It’s a fact of life that clients come and sometimes, sadly, go. That’s why it’s rewarding when former clients become current ones again and it’s particularly rewarding when a returning client is one we enjoyed working with so much. Welcome back to Momentum, Out Teach!
This unusual educational nonprofit, which encourages outdoor science learning (including by building outdoor science laboratories for elementary schools in underserved communities), returns with a plan to grow. It hopes to add 11 million minutes of real-world science instruction for students by 2029, and considering that elementary school students now get on average just 18 minutes a day of science learning, that’s a lot. Out Teach also hopes to train and coach 10,000 teachers.
The reason Out Teach’s work is important now is because the fastest growing types of jobs require knowledge of the STEM subjects — science, technology, engineering and math. It’s vital for children to appreciate science early, because job aspirations often form by sixth grade. Girls in particular fade from these fields when not inspired — but Out Teach’s labs and methods have been shown to keep girls engaged.
Last month, players, cheerleaders and other volunteers from the Denver Broncos took part in a signature “Big Dig” and helped Out Teach build an outdoor lab at Godsman Elementary School in Denver. Click here to see Out Teach CEO Jeanne McCarty tell CBS Colorado about it, or check out the Broncos’ delightful collection of photos.
Why We Play Pretend at Work
Gene Wilder “playing” Willie Wonka
Childhood is not from birth to a certain age and at a certain age
The child is grown, and puts away childish things.
– Edna St. Vincent Millay
Subconsciously, there’s a day when we decide playtime is over. The games that dominated our free time — inventing stories with Barbies or Legos, talking to imaginary friends or fantasizing about being characters in our favorite novels — cease to be played. But for some of us, playing pretend never loses its appeal or utility.
Adults don’t lose our ability to imagine, but we repurpose it. In public relations, we use our imaginations to invent new campaigns, brainstorm ideas and anticipate client needs before they’re ever voiced. The industry’s favorite PR buzz words — strategize, ideate, conceptualize — are all just different ways to say we play pretend. We spend our days making up stories and narratives. We pick words out of thin air and weave them together to move an unseen audience.
We indulge our imaginations at work whenever we ask, “What if?” We keep our minds open and our work is better for it. Creativity and curiosity in the workplace encourage innovation and novel ideas, resulting in higher quality work and happier clients.
So don’t be afraid to daydream a little. All work and no play make your ideas very dull indeed.
The Serendipitous Stop on a Freeform Road Trip
The call of the open road is hard to resist, but once on the road it’s even harder for Senior Editor & Strategist Andrew Smith to resist stopping at something that’s wacky or beautiful. Once in a while it can be both at the same time, like this fridge full of fudge on the extremely twisty Kangaroo Valley Road, between Berry and Kangaroo Valley, a couple of hours south of Sydney, Australia.
In the fridge was fudge, toffee, some news articles about the fridge and a metal box in which honest customers pay for what they take.
Credit: lonestartravelguide.com
For bewildering Americana, it’s hard to top the Cadillac Ranch outside Amarillo, Texas. This is a line of vintage Cadillacs buried nose first in a field next to Interstate 40, formerly Route 66. Once you register what you’re seeing, pull over and walk into the field. There’s no fee and you can climb on them, paint them or just wonder why they’re there.
Credit: Rebecca Bonanno
The salt flats at Cabo Rojo in Puerto Rico are a more contemplative find. These flats, visible from a roadside observation tower near the southern end of Route 301, shimmer pink and white in the sun. Salt is still mined from these lagoons, as it has been for about 1,300 years. The flats are part of a national wildlife refuge and a home to migratory birds.
Part of the joy of hitting the open road is being willing to stop for anything.
Sleuthing on the Socials
Don’t give up so easily if the first place you turn for reporters’ contact info comes up dry. Media Supervisor Zach Halper has ideas:
Can’t find the email of a journalist you are looking for on your media database or even the publication’s website? There are other ways to get in contact with them. Try messaging them on social media. LinkedIn is an especially good place to send messages, as it can further expand your network.
