From the Founder

At certain points in life, many of us sense that the way things are no longer fits the way we want to live, learn, or care for one another. Field Studies Sanctuary began from that recognition — and from years of listening to what felt missing.

My path here has been wide and varied. I’ve built businesses, worked within nonprofit systems, raised children, supported grandchildren in their learning, created art, studied natural health, grown food, and spent time navigating — and questioning — the structures that shape our daily lives. Along the way, I’ve learned as much from what worked as from what didn’t.

Those experiences shaped a simple insight: learning, healing, and meaningful work flourish when they are grounded in care, attention, and relationship — to land, to people, and to ourselves.

Field Studies Sanctuary grew from a desire to create the kind of place I once searched for: a land-based setting for learning, nourishment, and thoughtful growth, where people can explore what supports them best and carry that understanding back into their own lives.

Today, the work of the Sanctuary takes shape through a few interconnected efforts.

Field Studies Sanctuary serves as the practical heart of the project. It holds our nature-based learning work, including Teaching Modern Minds, the Apothecary & Learning Kitchen, and other educational and creative initiatives. This is where we explore ways of learning that support focus, confidence, and care — especially for families navigating education outside conventional systems.

Sacred Assembly of Soil & Soul (SASS) is the spiritual arm of the work, structured as a 508(c)(1)(A) church. It offers space for ceremony, reflection, and relationship with the living world, without prescribing belief. Participation is always invitational, and many people engage simply through shared practices of presence, rhythm, and care for land and community.

Running through all of this is a guiding intention: to work in ways that are attentive, ethical, and responsive — to people, to place, and to the realities of the moment we’re living in. No single language, faith, or worldview is required here. Curiosity, respect, and a willingness to learn are enough.

Field Studies Sanctuary is not a finished vision. It is a work in progress — shaped by those who arrive, participate, and contribute in their own ways. Whether you come as a parent, educator, learner, neighbor, or simply someone seeking steadier ground, you are welcome to engage at the level that feels right to you.

This is a place for learning with care, for tending what sustains us, and for imagining how we might do things better — together.

With appreciation,
Shannon Reed
Founder & Steward
Field Studies Sanctuary | SASS