Students from the various community partnerships were engaged in programming that integrated key environmental principles and concepts outlined by California’s Office of Education and the Environment (Goal 2). Several members of our coordinator team were also pivotal in developing the environmental education curriculum in alignment with Next Generation Science standards and the California History-Social Science Standards (Goal 3). Our coordinator and instructor team also received training in conflict resolution and mental health first aid, and environmental justice and education. These objectives were measured through our post-season surveys, capturing various indicators and metrics of the student experience. We will continue to create surveys that better track the outcomes of our programs.

STEM Education & Stewardship: Each program at the Sepulveda Basin offered impactful STEM instruction, including 3 of several activities fostering deep environmental stewardship: nature walk, water quality lab, water filtration system, urban heat analysis, and/or civic engagement. Statewide Education Compliance: Our curriculum aligns with CA’s educational standards, incorporating NGSS and CA History-Social Science Standards to ensure our activities are essential components of students’ educational outcomes. Community & Conservation Efforts: We offer service learning to cultivate a deep care and understanding of environmental issues among students: brainstorming solutions for the LA River Watershed, participating in cleanups, removing invasive plants, and making native seed balls. Additional Learning: We provide resources for students to continue participating in LA River restoration and encourage environmental stewardship at home with Family Guides distributed to students' guardians.

International Rescue Committee

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has been an incredible organization to collaborate with. Within our programs, we've witnessed participants not only thriving but also expressing a desire for tailored offerings that align with their specific interests. For instance, Salma, one of our participants, has discovered a profound passion for climbing. Her consistent dedication and remarkable progress during each trip showcase her growing skills and unwavering enthusiasm for conquering every climbing challenge presented to her. Furthermore, some of the IRC participants have discovered our programming within their schools, eagerly seizing every opportunity to join our trips. Salma, a student at Hoover High, actively engages in both her school's adventure club outings and our IRC activities, making the most out of every chance to explore her interests. Through our collaboration with IRC, we've discovered the immense value of actively listening to their feedback in trip organization, ensuring an experience that maximizes the students' benefits. Additionally, we recognize the significance of considering participants' religious backgrounds while scheduling trips to enhance engagement. Understanding that, in most cases, parents prioritize taking their kids to Sunday mass, church, or mosque, we've made a deliberate effort this time to schedule as many trips as possible on Saturdays. This adjustment aims to accommodate and respect the religious commitments of our participants, thereby increasing their likelihood of joining our trips.

El Cajon Valley High School

Our partnership with El Cajon Valley High School has grown significantly closer over the past year through our consistent weekly engagement. While our recruitment efforts were robust at the beginning of the year, they were largely unnecessary as the majority of our returning students took it upon themselves to invite friends, effectively filling the gaps left by graduating participants from the previous year.

In 2023-2024, we began new partnerships with districts other than Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). Non-LAUSD schools who have participated in our educational programming include: Buckley School, Milken Community School, Campbell Hall, New Los Angeles Charter, Wildwood School, Arcadia High, Marengo Elementary, Maude Price Elementary, Los Encinos School, and Park Elementary. We’ve also begun a train-the-trainer program for LAUSD educators to join FoLAR staff in providing this programming under our supervision to scale up our student reach. We also launched our take home toolkit providing students and families with outdoor activities to continue their Source to Sea learning. Alumni also were invited to join these new educational events and partnerships: Naturalist Art Walk, Coffee & Critters sponsored by Starbucks, City Nature Challenge Bioblitz with LA Zoo, Bats & Brews with Nature Nexus Institute, and Stories of the Land led by Indigenous partner, Alan Salazar.

Always be prepared to teach your lesson in a variety of ways. we may not Always be able to communicate verbally with our hearing-impaired participants, and so we should be able to teach the lesson that will continue to engage students in accessible ways they will understand.

Still working on being able to digitize our waiver so that we can provide an Arabic translation. For a lot of parents who have recently immigrated, the waivers can be a complicated paper to navigate and having this translated into their native language would be extremely helpful.

Bussing was a challenge this year for the nature excursions, but after sourcing new vendors we’ve rescheduled previous nature trips to February 2025 with the Alliance Judy Ivie Burton Technology Academy. During the 2023-24 school year, our field trip location at Bette Davis Picnic Area lost available walk space, so we consolidated all future trips to Lewis MacAdams Riverfront Park for the 2024-25 school year. Teachers found the PDF lesson format difficult to navigate; FoLAR adapted the two lessons to Google Slides with interactive videos led by FoLAR educators for the 2024-25 school year. Surveys and teacher observations indicated that a significant number of students want to volunteer on the River, so our educators created the take-home family guide to be shared after field trips. It includes a full activity guide designed to extend student learning post- field trip and to engage family members in learning about and advocating for the River, both at the River and from home.