Sue Nicholls and the High Schools Group launched the Elementary Outreach Program in 1996 with a pilot program in which older students and adults taught fourth- through sixth-graders about environmental topics in several Peninsula schools.
Pilot program
The pilot focused on San Francisquito Creek and had two parts (Action, vol 7, no 1 · Winter 1996):
Part one was a classroom visit by BAA volunteers (this included adults such as Laura Stec and Karen Cotter, and teens such as Zan Rubin, Helen Sofaer, Ali Godinez, Brett Anderson, Kathy Tsina, Leanne Farrell, and others) to teach a curriculum about the creek habitat and species that lived there. This included a slideshow developed by Peter Drekmeier which took the students on a tour of the creek, described the animal life, and stressed the importance of protecting the animals’ habitat. Part one culminated in a game where some students became trout and tried to make it downstream to sea, then back upstream to spawn; other students acted like fishermen, dams, and other obstacles. Typically, only one in five students could complete the journey, demonstrating how challenging it was to be a trout. Part one lasted about one-and-a-half hours.
Part two was a voluntary family event on the weekend. Students and their families were invited to participate in a creek walk with a naturalist who talked about the animals living in the creek, native and non-native plants, and the Ohlone Indians who once lived in harmony along the banks of the creek. The students then played a game that demonstrated how pollution affects the tiniest insects and eventually works its way up the food chain.
The pilot launched at La Entrada Elementary School (Menlo Park, CA), arranged by BAA member Jennifer Thelan. On October 14, 1996, 40 students and family members participated in a creek walk with Karen Cotter of the Coyote Creek Riparian Station. “Everyone seemed to enjoy the tour,” wrote Sue Nicholls in the BAA newsletter, ”and a few interesting artifacts were found, including a mosaic from the Stanford Chapel that was dumped in the creek after the 1906 earthquake.”
YEA!
The Elementary Outreach Program eventually morphed into YEA! (Youth Environmental Action) over time, and expanded greatly over several years.
From May 2000 project update:
YEA! is a year-long interactive, environmental educational program for 5th through 8th grade students. Our curriculum involves both indoor and outdoor classroom presentations, helping students learn about their community and local environmental issues through hands-onactivities , field-trips, and community oriented project-based learning projects.
For( internal) reference: the student-initiated projects are now referred to as the YEA! Team (last year, it was the adoption of San Francisquito Creek. This year, it will be creating a student- run school- wide recycling program
Amy Hui was hired as BAA’s Education Programs Coordinator (YEA! and HSG).
Highlights / accomplishments of 1998–’99 year
Provided 3 interns the opportunity to gain hands-on teaching experience, trained interns skills in the field of environmental education.
Started a pilot project in Palo Alto offering the YEA! Curriculum to 2–4 grade school classes. As part of the pilot project in Palo Alto, tie the grade school students into Bay Area Action’s Arastradero Stewardship program for hands-on learning.
Doubled number of participating classes.
Developed five units of curriculum based on state-approved activities.
Participated in a study of effectiveness of Environmental Education in Ravenswood District (conducted by one of our interns for his honors thesis).
Pilot program for student-initiated projects (adoption of local creek as an outdoor science laboratory).
Presented 5 units of curriculum to over 750 kids in the Ravenswood District.
Developed pre- and post- activities to accompany the units.
Piloted a year-long student action community project: the adoption of San Francisquito Creek.
Goals for 2000
Create well-developed, student-initiated year long projects (YEA! Team) that will serve as a model for other schools in the Ravenswood District. (This year’s project will be the creation of a campus-wide recycling program and accompanying curriculum.)
Continue to deliver and improve the 5 field-tested units of our curriculum
improve /further develop/ increase comprehensiveness of curriculum: better develop pre- and post- activities, (better documentation of process for next year’s interns, as well as as having a reproducable product -program to attract funds)
collaborate w/ others: Challenge Learning Center (another program in Menlo Oaks), San Mateo County/East Palo Alto recycling programs
Collaborate with both on-campus groups and community organizations to ensure the sustainability of developed projects and to create a more localized understanding of issues.
re-evaluate the program, and come up with plan to better meet BAA educational goals as well as community environmental education needs
Major supporters (circa 1999–2000)
Environmental Protection Agency
Intel Corporation
Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund
Peninsula Community Foundation
Barbara Delano Foundation
Anonymous
Stanford Haas Center for Community Service (in-kind through their Work-Study Program)
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