New Year, New You? Become An 'Environmental Volunteer' In Local Schools, Eco-Center, On Field Trips

News from Environmental Volunteers:

Environmental Volunteers, a leading provider of environmental science education programs in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, is doing what it has done best for 44 years: teaching everyday people to become nature volunteers in local classrooms, on field trips, and, for the past three years, at the state-of-the-art EcoCenter in the Palo Alto Baylands Nature Preserve.

Volunteer training sessions take place twice a year, rotating between the Environmental Volunteers’ offices in Palo Alto and San Jose. During the sessions, participants learn how to teach over 300 hands-on learning kits in subject areas such as Baylands Ecology, Forest and Foothill Ecology, Water Science and Conservation, Marine Ecology, Early California Indian Life, Earthquake Geology, and Energy and Natural Resources.

After training is completed, volunteers deliver learning kits in small groups to children in schools, on field trips to local parks, shoreline, and beaches, and to visitors of all ages at the EcoCenter. No experience is necessary prior to signing up to become a volunteer; training is comprehensive and includes extensive support from current volunteers and staff.

Volunteers who join the organization see the Environmental Volunteers as an opportunity to join a tightknit community of nature lovers, while also pursing high-quality lifelong learning.

Larry Spivak, a retired aerospace engineer and volunteer since 2010, describes his volunteering experience with the Environmental Volunteers: “Being a volunteer with the Environmental Volunteers is one of the best things I’ve done in my life. One time, I was on a field trip to Fitzgerald Marine Reserve to lead students through the shore and tide pools. That day, we were working with a group of 3rd graders from an under-resourced neighborhood on the peninsula. Their class was studying Marine Ecology with us. I’ll never forget one boy. As soon as he caught sight of the Pacific Ocean, the boy’s jaw dropped and his eyes opened wide. It was his first time seeing the ocean. Then the boy said something that I will always remember. He said, ‘I never knew the world ... was so big.’”

Environmental Volunteers has been recognized for the high-quality of its learning programs; the organization’s curricula is developed and reviewed by science educators, and meets California state mandated requirements for science education, including the Next Generation science standards and Common Core.

The next volunteer training sessions run from January 15 through February 19 (San Jose), and again from February 29 through April 11 (Palo Alto). EcoCenter Docent training will take place on March 5 (Palo Alto).

In addition to supporting learning programs, docents greet visitors to the Environmental Volunteers’ EcoCenter and introduce them to the wonders of tidal marsh flora and fauna in the Baylands Preserve.

The EcoCenter is the headquarters for the Environmental Volunteers and serves as a public nature center with science and nature educational programs for the general public.

The EcoCenter is located at 2560 Embarcadero Road in Palo Alto. Admission is free.

For more info, follow this link.

Founded in 1972, the Environmental Volunteers is a 501(c)(3) corporation whose mission is to promote the understanding of and responsibility for the environment through hands-on science education. Trained staff and docents from the Environmental Volunteers inspire a love of the natural world through classroom programs, field trips, summer camps, and at the EcoCenter. More than 300,000 children and adults have explored local ecosystems with the Environmental Volunteers. Annually, the Environmental Volunteers serve 10,000 students in schools and 5,000 visitors to the EcoCenter. Visit www.EVols.org.