Who We Are

Weekend Wild Child is a unique and innovative approach to education through nature play, learning, and adventure for all ages. We offer an inspirational opportunity for families and individuals to develop and achieve a strong connection with the natural world through multi-sensorial learning experiences in a forest, farm, or beach setting - a classroom without walls.

How we started?

Weekend Wild Child started in early 2017 as a close-knit outdoor playgroup in Bangkong Kahoy Valley, guiding toddlers and young children to forest walks, nature arts, and unstructured play. We opened to the public in August of that year, accepting families with children from all-ages.
In the months we experienced extreme weather conditions in the valley, we brought our program to our partner farms and coastal communities. Since then, we commit to provide the multi-sensorial experience every child needs while contributing to the livelihood and conservation efforts of our partner communities.

OUR TEAM

Laila Pornel-Espital

Laila is a mother to a wild child named Seed Nayon. Her background is in non-profit orgs, development work, and biodiversity conservation before jumping into a social enterprise and focusing on environmental education.

She has experience working with children and families through years of volunteer work in counseling sessions, teaching in schools, and organizing rural communities.

Laila completed her intensive course and teacher training in Waldorf/Steiner education in 2018. She is the main facilitator of Weekend Wild Child.

Gio Paolo Espital

Gio is the father behind Weekend Wild Child. Our handy man, badge maker, kitchen and campsite manager, photographer, graphic artist, and all-around man. His love for nature started in college when he got involved in different outdoor sports and environment programs. One of his major projects was a fund-raising program where he pedaled over 1500 kilometers all over the Philippines for scholarship and environmental awareness back in 2012.

He has a background in NGO work focusing on sustainable agriculture and ecotourism. He is also an active volunteer to different environmental organizations and has experience in family and psychosocial therapy. At present, Gio is producing organic vegetables and growing different mushroom varieties for household customers and selected restaurants in Metro Manila.

Lounelle Godinez

Lounelle’s love for kids and the environment brought Lounelle to the idea of creating new ways of learning, and one of these is the birth of Weekend Wild Child. As a teacher advocating for progressive education, she believes that learning must not only happens in the four sides of the classroom, but also in free, child-led, fun, and enjoyable experiences with nature.

Weekend Wild Child is her advocacy which allows children to appreciate and learn with nature using the whole senses to foster curiosity, creativity, and cooperation. She believes in engaging the motions to encourage children to care more about the environment.

Her background is in community organization, education, and environment conservation. She finished her masters education in De La Salle University-Manila.

Joseph Justin Vinzons

Justin is an athlete, UNESCO advocate, and educator by profession. He has a passion for community service. He involves himself in various education-related outreach activities such as teaching children in the upland or remote communities and implementing youth empowerment programs.

As an educator, he feels proud seeing his students learn how to sing, play an instrument, or try out a new sport. His passion for life-long learning led him to create songs related to nature and care for the environment, which Weekend Wild Child uses during wildschooling activities.

Weekend Wild Child is his advocacy that supports the holistic development of children. He believes in doing work that taps into multiple intelligences for children to grow into strong, independent, nature-loving, and socially responsible individuals. He is currently a physical education instructor and a candidate for master’s degree in education at the Philippine Normal University.

Maria Jessi Borromeo

Jessi, or Teacher Jessi to many children, is an early childhood educator with a background in Family Life and Child Development. Her passion for progressive education and love for children and the outdoors led her to becoming an outdoor nurturer for Weekend Wild Child.

She is driven to reimagine education and take learning outside the four walls of a classroom. She continuously finds ways to utilize her passions and skills in building more holistic programs and environments for the kids of the future.

Discover the wonders of nature with our specially curated activities for all ages.

ABOUT WEEKEND WILD CHILD

We are a community of families, educators, earth warriors, and outdoor enthusiasts that aims to nurture children’s sense of curiosity, joy, awe and wonder.