Educational Goals Achieved Through Activities in the Community: Through the Eco-Tours, Community Planting, and Natural Connections activities in the community, TreePeople promotes service-learning opportunities between school and local communities in addition to exposing youth and families to green career pathways within the home region. These events primarily engaged schools and families within the City of San Fernando at locations close to the schools, at Cindy Montañez Natural Park and/or Rudy Ortega Park.

Community Planting- 5 activities/trips completed Objectives: Foster stewardship of the environment through hands-on tree plantings, maintenance and care; Promote service-learning opportunities between schools and local communities Youth and families participate in Community Tree Plantings or Native Plant Restoration Events that teach skills which directly improve the local environment and help San Fernando’s community members understand the role of trees and native plants in securing environmental justice.

Community outreach efforts for activities in the community included TreePeople participating in two events: the San Fernando Outdoor Market in addition to Northeast Valley Community Street Festival to notify the community and family members of the programming. TreePeople has also done direct outreach within 56 schools to spark interest of teachers, administrators, and students in the San Fernando region. Indirectly, TreePeople continues to outreach to community members during regularly scheduled community plantings. Often, residents come out during planting events and want to learn more about TreePeople’s programming, which is when they receive flyers about TreePeople’s Rooted y Refrescado programming.

Educational Goals Achieved Through Nature Area Trips:

Aire Libre Trip -1 activity/trip completed Objectives: Rooted in STEAM principles and Environmental Principles and Concepts; connecting participants specifically to nature. Aire Libre Trips take participants on tours of TreePeople’s Coldwater Canyon Park to learn more about the environment and ecosystems to connect more closely with nature. By taking community members on these trips, TreePeople also promotes healthy lifestyles and lays the foundation for generating initiative on getting outside and experiencing nature. Nature Walk - 5 activities/trips completed Objectives: Rooted in STEAM & NGSS Principles and connect the youth to nature. Nature Walks–although similar to Aire Libre Trips–are geared solely to school-aged youth. These trips are rooted in the Next Generation Science Standards’ Disciplinary Core Idea (DCI) Human Impacts on Earth Systems and LAUSD’s Climate Literacy Taskforce Recommendations. By immersing students in the real-world environments that they are studying, these field trips provide tangible experiences that connect theory to practice. Through experiential learning in outdoor settings, students are better equipped to make informed choices and contribute to the responsible stewardship of our planet. While the intergenerational Aire Libre Trips are important for weaving the benefits of nature and place-based engagement in families and communities, the opportunity for students to explore nature with the peers and teachers alongside Eco Educators who have come from the same neighborhoods provides for a “near-peer” mentoring by staff who come from the San Fernando

As mentioned in the Year 1 report, TreePeople’s Rooted y Refrescado program aligns with the Outdoor Equity Program goals to expose youth to nature and environmental stewardship. All of TreePeople’s programs align with STEAM standards, California’s Environmental Concepts, and LAUSD’s Climate Literacy Initiative. Locally, TreePeople has completed 10 Eco-Tours, which center on building environmental stewardship and providing exposure to green career pathways at an early age; and 10 Community Plantings (deliverable met) that cultivate ownership and commitment within the community. 1 Natural Connection Trip, 5 Aire Libre Trips, and 30 Nature Walks connect participants to nature, promote healthy lifestyles and immerse students in real-world environments, aligning with NGSS standards, and fostering responsible stewardship.

Boy Scouts of America

TreePeople hosted a restoration event during the renaming of Pacoima Wash to Cindy Montanez Natural Park. At this event, The Boy Scouts of America planted native plants to help with the restoration of Cindy Montañez Natural Park. The Boy Scout Troop participated in a planting event in Rooted y Refrescado Year 1 and communication has led to continued discussions into Year 2. TreePeople plans to host an Aire Libre trip for the same troop and their families in Year 2. An Aire Libre trip for this group was being coordinated by two different staffers, which required TreePeople and Boy Scouts of America to develop a registration process that will work better for both organizations in Year 2.

Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles

Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles and TreePeople are partnering to serve troops in TreePeople’s priority areas as well as make use of Girl Scouts of Greater LA’s properties to host Aire Libre, Natural Connections, Nature Walk, Community Planting, and Restoration Trips. Communications have begun, flyers have been distributed to local troops, and site visits have been scheduled for contract Year 2. The process of reviewing a field trip site and developing programming tailored to it is lengthy, requiring many site visits to be scheduled and approved by participating school districts. TreePeople considers this partner development with Girl Scouts to be well worth the time investment. City of San Fernando TreePeople has been working with the City of San Fernando to plant trees in the community for several years. The City of San Fernando helps TreePeople by providing mulch for Community Planting trips and accessing water needed to plant trees. City staff have also attended every Community Planting trip and have supported communications between TreePeople and the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, which manages Cindy Montanez Natural Park. TreePeople has learned from the City of San Fernando staff that it is of utmost importance to be cognizant of the community's stance on your projects and even more crucial to have their support. The City works very closely with their constituents to ensure project success.

Olive Vista Middle

Olive Vista Middle has participated in a couple of TreePeople’s OEP offerings. TreePeople has been in communication with various teachers at this school, ranging from science to history teachers, who are interested in taking students outdoors. Olive Vista Middle has attended multiple offerings including Nature Walk trips at Coldwater Canyon Park and Community Plantings. There are meetings in place for continued collaboration in Year 2. Breaking students up into previously assigned, small groups helps with large group management. Smaller groups are also conducive to higher efficiency, leading to more trees planted and increased benefits to community members.

LAUSD: Climate Literacy Champions

TreePeople has been working closely with LAUSD’s Climate Literacy Champion Program, which builds capacity for climate literacy instruction led by LAUSD educators. TreePeople will be collaborating in two key events in spring semester 2024 to teach these 300 Climate Champion teachers about TreePeople’s Rooted y Refrescado and additional programs. In January 2024, we present to roughly 300 Climate Champion Educators to share about TreePeople’s programming geared towards youth and students. In March, 2024, TreePeople hosts a half-day training for the Climate Champion Educators at our headquarters park. LAUSD’s Climate Literacy Champions have been great partners in providing insight on what specific needs LAUSD teachers and students have. Conversations with this group have led TreePeople to understand teachers’ and administrators’ desire for authentic service learning, or solutionary challenges. TreePeople is working closely with the Climate Champion lead in the Division of Instruction to tie the OEP service learning projects to LAUSD’s trainings in STEAM and mental health. TreePeople has worked with Pacoima Middle, one of LAUSD Climate Literacy Champions, to conduct community planting events with youth and families in San Fernando. A recent weather-related cancellation at Pacoima Middle School caused TreePeople to develop on-campus activities as alternatives to field trips. This flexibility enables the program to proceed even during the upcoming rainy season, but will also strengthen relationships with teachers and administrators when a weather cancellation is inevitable. LAUSD’s Climate Champion Educators have a contractual obligation to champion and scale climate literacy education throughout their school. TreePeople has created streamlined opportunities to schedule spring engagements with Climate Champion teachers from Huntington Park who will attend these two TreePeople-specific trainings about our programs.

LAUSD: Linked Learning

TreePeople has had regular meetings during fall semester with LAUSD’s Linked Learning Program Director to identify schools to target for TreePeople’s Rooted y Refrescado Program. LAUSD’s Career Technical Education and Linked Learning Department ensures that every student has the opportunity to access a high-quality, industry-relevant career pathway. TreePeople has begun building relationships with LAUSD’s Linked Learning Director to discuss ways to build student internships through their career development pathways. Linked Learning is very interested in building green career pathways in natural resources management, including forestry, wildland conservation and environment stewardship. A January 2024 meeting with the Linked Learning Director will explore programs to expose students and families in San Fernando to green career opportunities from TreePeople staff raised in the area.

(1) John H. Polytechnic High has been a consistent partner, frequently bringing students to TreePeople’s Outdoor Equity Programs. Polytechnic High’s participation in TreePeople Outdoor Equity offerings, including in Aire Libre Trips at Coldwater Canyon Park, has been vital to the success of the program. (2) City of San Fernando’s Parks, Wellness, and Recreation Commission: After program staff attended a commissions meeting to share about TreePeople’s Outdoor Equity offerings, the commission enthusiastically agreed to help promote TreePeople’s Exposure Trips and Community offerings by sharing them on social media and passing the word along to local park visitors. (3) Cesar Chavez Learning Academy Social Justice Humanitas has participated in TreePeople’s Outdoor Equity Exposure Trip and expressed strong support for TreePeople’s program. They helped promote Exposure Trips and Community offerings to other teachers by sharing their experiences, bringing more students outdoors.

TreePeople has learned various lessons throughout Year 1 of the Rooted y Refrescado Program. Schools throughout California have noted an increasing amount of absenteeism, which has affected this project’s ability to meet the goal number of students present at events in addition to planning and purchasing the appropriate amount of food. For example, if a teacher has 35 seats available in their classroom, they will typically schedule a tour anticipating all students will be present. On the day of the tour, sometimes as little as 20 of that original 35 will be present. TreePeople is usually not notified of this unforeseen attrition ahead of the tour, resulting in a surplus of food and last-minute planning changes to accommodate for a smaller group. TreePeople will use data from Year 1 of the grant to better anticipate attrition rates as well as make changes to the field trip registration process to capture declines in attendance as soon as teachers foresee them.

Another unforeseen challenge that TreePeople encountered was discovering that second through fifth grade classrooms tend to be less than 30 students, which has been an additional hurdle when fulfilling grant deliverables. TreePeople will be working in 2024 with the schools and educators to attempt taking more than one classroom to fulfill the deliverable. High school teachers also strive to involve all of their classes when scheduling trips, which can pose scheduling challenges in high schools with students in multiple classes with different teachers. As a result, TreePeople has learned to strategize and create a calendar of specific days for offering trips to high schools versus elementary schools. This strategic approach not only addresses logistical constraints but also facilitates the planning of our field trip calendar for the school year.

Internally, there has been a learning curve with the Education Department hosting their own Forestry events rather than leaning on the Forestry Department to conduct them. Education has become successful in communicating with Forestry about their material and logistic needs to complete a Community Tree Planting or Native Plant Restoration Event to ensure there is no double-counting of trees planted and participants involved in plantings within grants.

The final lesson learned was regarding the planning of the events. TreePeople has learned that Saturdays and school breaks are difficult times to engage participants in the activities. Consequently, TreePeople has adapted by working with the community to offer the events on days that they know participation is more likely. Those days include Monday through Friday and exclude early dismissal days, exam days, or holidays.

TreePeople increased participation in Aire Libre Trips by enhancing outreach to families and local organizations. An unexpected challenge was that our evening Aire Libre Trips did not always align with participants' schedules. To address this, we added Saturday and flexible date options to better fit community availability, aiming to make the program more accessible. We also partnered with local schools and LAUSD School District to expand our reach to a more diverse audience. Moving forward, we recommend continuing to offer trip schedules based on community needs and strengthen collaborations with schools to boost access and engagement. Tailoring our approach to meet the community where they are will be key to maximizing the program’s impact.