Our Story
First and foremost, we are both daughters of Alabama soil, and mothers to children here.
Birmingham’s Forest School is a dream we are seeding for our children, and the next seven generations, right here in the places we were both born. In communities on Earth where children, parents and elders are still deeply connected to the land, the places where we are born and raised matter.
In this context, all of us are born with an innate connection to the trees, the mycelial webs, the smells of our rivers, and the microbes in the soil. Our souls remember the challenges our ancestors faced, and the gifts they left us. And held in this web of time, space, and story, we remember what is ours to do as we grow into adulthood—and how we serve the land and community well.
This is what Magan and Jane are here for— to live out their legacies by reconnecting the next generation to the wisdom of the Earth, the vitality of the body, and the power of intentional community.
Together, we hold a breadth of wisdom and skill — from public & private education, to non-profit building, to indigenous wisdom, to holistic healthcare and nature-based occupational therapy.
Birmingham’s Forest School is born too, of a community dream—currently fostered by over 60 families who have said, “Yes, this is a dream we hold, too. What can we do to make it a reality for our children?”
When communities dream together, in harmony and respect for the land, magic happens.
Jane Mayer, Co-Founder
Jane was born and raised in Mountain Brook, and hails from generations of Alabamians. Her maternal grandmother’s family came from infrastructure builders, farmers and midwives on Chandler Mountain, and she is part of web of educators — principals and special education and music teachers— in almost every ancestral line.
She holds a Masters degree in Education from UCLA, and two B.A.s with honors (English Literature and Drama) from The University ofVirginia. She has helped to found a private Episcopal School and public charter school in Los Angeles, and a non-profit educator wellness organization out of the Bay Area, California, now heavily funded by the Gates Foundation. She is no stranger to grassroots organization, and foundational creation.
More recently, and most dear to her heart, she has spent the last decade learning at the feet of indigenous wisdom keepers, plants and spiritual traditions in Peru, Ireland and Hawaii (where she has lived), and run her own earth-based private healing practice. She credits these medicines and memory to deep personal healing and awakening, and shares them with gratitude and generosity.
She and her husband Richy (who met in Peru), now live in Crestline Park, and have a miracle 20-month old son, Oran—who has inspired the creation of this forest school.
“A longing for what is wild lives in our bones — may it be born in our children and nourish them all their lives.”
Jane Mayer— Co-Founder
Magan Higgins-Gramling, Co-Founder
Magan Higgins Gramling is originally from Montgomery, AL, growing up on 15 acres in the deep woods. She now lives in Chelsea, AL with her husband and two children (son, 10 & daughter, 7).
Magan’s maternal family has been farmers for decades, whether with chickens, cattle or small family farm. Both of Magan’s parents were teachers, and Magan’s mother is a holistic nurse, which helped inspire her healthcare path to Occupational Therapy. She obtained a BS with honors in Psychology and graduated with honors in her Masters of OT from UAB. She then continued in her love for learning, obtaining certifications in lymphatic care, mastectomy, trauma, functional nutrition & eventually a doctorate of clinical practice. She has been an OT for over 12 years & practiced in a variety of settings before deciding to open her own private practice, Integrative OT, which specializes in Nature Based holistic OT.
Magan is also a faculty member at the University of St. Augustine and contracts with Kansas Virtual Academy. She is very active in her community and has a deep passion for OTs role in sustainability.
Nature is our largest environment and our most accessible! Being in nature offers a plethora of health benefits ranging from physiological to psychological to spiritual.
Magan Higgins Gramling, Co-Founder
