Francesca Bruno - Outdoor Education

Francesca, known to her students by her camp name, Torreya, is a Miami native who developed a passion for the outdoors during elementary school, when she was active in the Girl Scouts. As Torreya grew, so did her love of nature, and while attending college at Barry University, Torreya began working summers as an outdoor educator in northern Georgia. She also worked as a summer camp counselor at Miami Country Day, and after graduating with a B.A. in Physical Education, Torreya started full time as a first-grade assistant.

In 2006, Torreya joined the Comprehensive Outdoor Education Program (COEP) program, and saw it as an opportunity to share her love of the outdoors with her students, teaching them to both enjoy and appreciate nature. She is a member of the Association of Experiential Education (AEE) and is a certified Wilderness First Responder (WFR), and has many years of experience trekking all over the country. Torreya became Director of COEP in 2010, and has made it her mission to find innovative ways to improve and evolve the COEP program.

Back