Our “Outdoor Program” approach consists of the following: -Activities in the Community are delivered by Earth Discovery Institute staff in the form of after school programming at each of the 4 Community Home Base locations (Anza Elementary, Lexington Elementary, Madison Avenue Elementary, and the El Cajon Branch Library). -Nature Area Trips are provided in the form of Earth Discovery Institute-led excursions to a variety of recreational locations throughout San Diego County. Our Outdoor Program accomplishes the following goals:

• Instruction in arts and science that connects nature experiences or environmental stewardship.
• Foster stewardship of the environment using curriculum pursuant to Public Resources Code, Division 34, Part 4: Statewide Environmental Education.
• Curriculum that is aligned to the content standards for California public schools adopted by the State Board of Education, including, but not limited to, the Next Generation Science standards

We accomplish these three goals through our Activities in the Community after school programming. This programming involves 30 activities delivered over nine 1-hour lessons, which we provide to up to 3 cohorts at each of the 4 Community Home Base locations annually. The activities we provide are a combination of science lessons and experiments and arts and crafts, and are aligned with Next Generation Science Standards, as well as California environmental principles and concepts (some key concepts covered include climate change, environmental sustainability, integrated pest management, pollution prevention, resource conservation, waste reduction, recycling, and water). Overarching themes of our Activities in the Community include “Super Science,” “Wild Watersheds,” “Helping Habitats,” “Protecting Pollinators,” “Climate Care,” “Pollution Solutions,” and “Camping 101.” Examples of activities include greenhouse gas science experiments, recycle relay races, creating posters to raise environmental awareness, making pollinator plant seedballs using native seeds, conducting litter clean-ups, making organic pesticides, Leave No Trace lessons, and more.

Career pathway mentoring related to natural resource agencies, environmental protection agencies, park operations, and therapeutic recreation.

We accomplished the pathway mentoring goal through a unique internship we offer. In the fall of 2023 we signed on two interns, one of whom is on track to complete 65 hours by December 17, 2023, and the other will complete 65 hours by February 2023. Over the course of the internship, the interns gain a holistic understanding of Earth Discovery Institute's operations. They spend 20 hours observing and supporting outdoor field trip programming with our education team. Similarly, they spend another 20 hours assisting with habitat restoration with our conservation team. And they will cap off the internship by spending 15 hours with our Office Administrator, learning office operations with our office administrator and exercising job-seeking skills including

1. Completing a resume (incorporating relevant skills gained from EDI's internship, with our staff support),
2. Participating in final mock-interview with EDI personnel, and
3. Utilizing job search websites such as Cal Careers, USAjobs, Indeed, etc.

Furthermore, our Natural Area Trips help residents from our Community Home Base cultivate a strong connection with nature and establish a sense of place as they discover some of San Diego County’s most remarkable outdoor destinations and participate in our engaging recreational activities. In year 1, we have provided a variety of dynamic outings, including whale watching, kayaking and standup paddleboarding lessons at San Diego Bay, overnight camping at Sweetwater Regional Summit, climbing lessons, a beach day at Fletcher Cove Beach Park, fishing lessons at Santee Lakes, and guided hikes to Cabrillo National Monument, Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve, Elfin Forest Recreational Reserve. These opportunities have helped remove barriers to the outdoors so that these residents can more equitably experience all the benefits of nature–from physical fitness to mental wellbeing and stronger communal ties. Many of the residents in the communities we serve are immigrants and refugees who were not aware of – or simply lacked access to –San Diego’s most popular outdoor destinations. Discovering these locations empowers our community to develop the habit of continuing to explore the outdoors, without us always needing to lead the way–whether it is a return to these locations or more time spent in nature closer to their neighborhoods.

Our outdoor program achieved educational goals through NGSS-aligned, curriculum-based activities that: a] connect youth to nature by exploring their school grounds via birding, scavenger hunts, and more, b] teach environmental issues via fun science experiments and art projects like urban heat mapping and watershed modeling, c] empower stewardship via activities like litter clean-ups and awareness posters, and d] prepare residents for NATs via Leave No Trace lessons and camping basics. NAT events brought multigenerational families on recreational trips across San Diego County, removing barriers by covering fees and providing transportation, food, and guided experiences with multilingual staff. Highlights included beach boogie boarding, an outdoor movie night at Crestridge, hikes, whale watching, kayaking, birding at Tijuana River Estuary, overnight camping, Zoo trips, and more. Our internship program also provided 4 locals with leadership development, 2 of whom are now employed at EDI!

In our first year we have provided a plethora of unforgettable experiences for some of San Diego East County’s residents. In addition to our Community Home Base activities, we have taken community members on a robust variety of Nature Area Trips and this could not have been accomplished without the help of our partners. Our main partners that we have collaborated with through the course of this grant programming are Lexington Elementary School, Madison Avenue Elementary School, Anza Elementary School, San Diego County Library, El Cajon Branch 2. Cajon Valley Union School District - Family And Community Engagement Office, The Torrey Pines Docent Society, Cabrillo National Monument, Docents of Elfin Forest Recreation Reserve, Chula Vista Water Sports, Grotto Climbing and Yoga, San Diego Rod and Reel Club.

San Diego Whale Watchers

The biggest accomplishment has been establishing a relationship with each of these partners to successfully execute our Activities in the Community programs and our Nature Area Trips. We have been able to collaborate with several of the above entities to coordinate Nature Area Trips, often at discounted rates for our program. We have also had great success in collaboration with the Cajon Valley Union School District's (CVUSD) Family and Community Engagement Office (FACE). In working with FACE's bilingual community Liaison for Lexington Elementary School, Narjiss Aziz, we have been able to spread awareness of our organization throughout our target community and serve 689 participants on our Nature Area Trips.

We’re excited to share that we formed new partnerships to better serve our community! In El Cajon, we collaborated with local Title I schools—including EJE Academies, W.D. Hall, Magnolia, Chase Avenue, Meridian, Johnson, and Naranca Elementary—reaching 2,972 participants through our Activities in the Community programming. New partnerships for Natural Area Trips allowed us to bring multigenerational families to exciting locations, including the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park (with discounted rates from San Diego Zoo Global), the Tijuana River National Reserve (permitting fees waived), and Fletcher Cove Beach Park (which offered pristine amenities with fewer restrictions than Silver Strand State Beach). Additionally, we formed a relationship with community liaisons Samar Alayas and Doaa Polus, helped us connect with new families, bolstering the success of these events. All of this is in addition to continued work with partnerships that we formed in the previous reporting period.

The main lesson we have learned over the first year of programming has been finding the right balance between quality and quantity for our participants in both our Activities in the Community and our Nature Area Trips programs. While we want to serve the most participants possible, we also want to ensure that all participants are receiving high-quality programming that leaves each person with a positive experience connecting with nature. Coordinating each Nature Area Trip event requires a substantial amount of effort, from scheduling transportation, recruiting participants, arranging internal and external staff/volunteers/personnel, etc. A successful method we have used to deliver our Nature Area Trips programming in an optimal way without overburdening our capacity is to schedule more than one group per trip as separate waves, when applicable. For Nature Area Trips where we planned to serve a large number of participants, having half the guests attend in the morning, and the other half attend in the afternoon, when possible, has allowed us to more efficiently provide a higher quality experience to a large number of people without scheduling multiple event dates.

Additionally, collaborating with key staff members from the school district to support us in spreading awareness of our programs and assisting with language barriers has also been imperative in connecting our target community with access to our Nature Area Trips. A successful method we have used to deliver our Activities in the Community programming is the development of themed lessons, which each day’s activities are centered around. This has been successful in communicating valuable environmental conservation lessons while maintaining participant engagement and interest. Because of these successful methods, some general successes we have had through these main programs are having multiple families return to attend additional Nature Area Trips; witnessing families experiencing new activities and connections with nature that they have never experienced before; connecting families with each other and developing new friendships with others during our Nature Area Trips; students developing strong scientific skills and demonstrating understanding of environmental conservation concepts as a result of our Activities in the Community lessons; as well as many others. One of the main unforeseen challenges we have encountered has been lack of available participants at one of our home base locations: the El Cajon Branch County Library. When planning our programming, this location seemed, in theory, to be a good location to host activities in the community. Unfortunately, in practice, we have found that there are several factors preventing families from utilizing this location regularly throughout the school year. To resolve this challenge, we have established stronger connections and communication with management at the library to plan to deliver our program during the summer months when the library sees more use from families. We have also increased our advertising efforts of the library program to spread awareness of this opportunity.

A key lesson we have learned over the first year of programming as it pertains to partnerships is that communication with Community Home Base location schools can be inconsistent. Teachers and faculty are understandably busy, which can result in a lack of responsiveness from them during certain times of the year. To resolve this issue, we are now coordinating even further out in advance to schedule cohorts of our Activities in the Community after school programming, and account for times of year when Community Home Base school partners will be less available. In addition to working with the school teachers and principals, we also plan to also get district-level engagement in year two, and will be attending a district meeting where this December to more formally introduce our organization and the programming opportunities we are providing at the three Community Home Base schools in the Cajon Valley Union School District.

Challenges: A scheduling conflict with a popular community Halloween event led to high no-show rates for one of our events. General no-shows remain an issue. Balancing reliance on community liaisons while building independent recruitment capacity is critical. Limited availability at CA State Parks restricts event dates. Weekend transportation is challenging as bus drivers often decline those shifts. Tips: Proactive communication (e.g., texting/calling guests before events) improves attendance. Providing clear, multilingual ads and emails ensures guests are well-prepared. A streamlined registration process allows easy sign-ups. Multilingual staff or those fluent in key languages enhance communication with liaisons and participants. Adding optional activities (e.g., scavenger hunts) makes events more engaging and skill-building. Consider community schedules when planning events (e.g., avoid busy months like June, and consider cultural holidays the community may celebrate like Ramadan).