Bringing the World to Students Who’ve Been Left Out of It

In rural Montana, many students have never left their hometown—let alone experienced the rivers, mountains, and cultures that surround them.

Thinkering Fellow Hilary Lozar is working to change that. Her capstone project uses immersive VR experiences to introduce rural and tribal youth to outdoor adventures, cultural knowledge, and real-world careers—without ever needing to leave the classroom.

This is access. This is equity. This is belonging.

🌍 The Problem

Many students in rural and tribal communities have never visited a national park—even when it’s only 30 minutes away.
They’ve never gone fishing, paddled a kayak, or walked through a museum.
Barriers like transportation, cost, and cultural disconnect keep them from opportunities that shape confidence, curiosity, and career paths.
And when those experiences are captured, they’re often told through someone else’s lens—leaving students invisible in their own stories.

💡 The Response

Hilary’s vision: a library of 360° video and VR learning modules, co-created with local experts, outdoor educators, and eventually tribal storytellers. These immersive experiences will be made available through Boys & Girls Clubs, libraries, and schools across the country—prioritizing communities that have been historically excluded.

The first set of experiences includes:

Fly fishing on the Flathead River
Kayaking near Glacier National Park
Hands-on STEM and artisan projects
Future modules in cultural preservation and environmental science

Students put on a headset—and step into possibility.

“If I can start it with one experience in one Boys & Girls Club, we can build a legacy that scales across the country.” — Hilary Lozar

🛠️ Why It’s Different

✅ Designed by educators, not tech companies
✅ Grounded in local partnerships and ethical storytelling
✅ Built for students who don’t have access to travel or enrichment programs
✅ Flexible enough to be used with or without headsets (web-based options included)
✅ Focused on representation, belonging, and cultural relevance

This is not an app. It’s a bridge.

🎯 Your Donation Makes This Possible

Your support helps:

Purchase headsets for rural schools and youth centers
Film and edit new VR learning modules
Fund community collaboration with tribal and outdoor educators
Build infrastructure to share these stories across the country
Ensure access for the kids who need it most

🚀 Help Us Launch This Legacy

Hilary’s project is ready to grow. She’s laid the foundation. Now she needs you.

Let’s make sure no student’s future is limited by their zip code.

Changing the world one classroom at a time

Our Mission

As a 501c3 Nonprofit, our mission is to elevate a child’s creativity and interests alongside traditional academic metrics, fostering passion-driven learning with real community impact.

To be a Thinkerer is to be a curious changemaker, open to solving longstanding challenges with fresh ideas.

We collaborate with leading organizations, educators, and innovators to create pathways that nurture student passions. By humanizing education, we aggregate and analyze learning experiences, building a global framework that values creativity and curiosity as essential to academic and personal growth.

Bringing the World to Students Who’ve Been Left Out of It - Hilary Lozar

By Thinkering Collective

Bringing the World to Students Who’ve Been Left Out of It - Hilary Lozar

Breaking geographic and financial barriers with 3D VR Experiential Learning

Team Members