LandPaths variety of programs collectively meets all 4 of the Outdoor Equity Educational Goals:

Nature Area Trips/Young Stewards Youth Development: Educational Goals 1, 2 and 4 (photo included, Young Stewards) How these goals were met: 12 High School youth participated in hands-on, project-based instruction in natural sciences, including plant life cycles, food chains, pesticide impacts, decomposition, and organic gardening principles. Participants engaged in stewardship projects at Bayer Farm and LandPaths’ nature preserves as part of LandPaths-designed leadership development and work experience programming to build their connection to nature and sense of reciprocity with the land. They gained work experience to develop their knowledge, skills, and affinity for conservation field work, and be exposed to the mental, physical, and social/emotional benefits of time spent in nature with positive role models to youth engaged in or at risk of negative behaviors or engaging with community violence. Youth participate in a 15-week session, spending one full day per week in the program. Participating youth learned about healthy lifestyles and nutritional habits while engaging in a community-centered organic garden. Young Stewards gained hands-on work experience in conservation, organic agriculture, wildfire resilience and land stewardship work, while participating in a mentorship and youth development framework led by LandPaths’ bilingual garden and field specialists. Youth were exposed to a variety of nature-based career paths and developed leadership and basic job accountability skills. With many of the youth returning for a second session, they are also building a strong peer network and adult mentors among LandPaths staff. Young Stewards provides participants with a positive, healthy, supportive location and community that builds confidence, self-esteem, and an alternative vision of their path in life to counteract the draw of gang and community violence.

Preparing for Natural Area Trips: Education Goals met 1 & 4 How Goals were met: LandPaths recruited and met with participants registered for the Yosemite National Park, to support residents having positive experiences on their natural area trips—from the stress of driving to the Park, what to expect during our visit to the Park and the return home. The outreach and preparation were successful in that we had a waitlist for the Nature Area trip activity, and all were prepared, the trip went smoothly with hikes, group eating in the outdoors, a stewardship project with Park Rangers, with everyone returning home safely.

Nature Area Trips Education Goal met 1, 2 & 4. (photos included: Boho summer cooling, birding, Vamos Yosemite, 2648 in Yosemite) How goals were met: LandPaths facilitated 28 Nature Area trips during the reporting period. These nature area trips ranged from visiting LandPaths nature preserves to a trip to Yosemite National Park. Nature Area trips to LandPaths Preserves provided controlled access that allows participants of color to feel safe and comfortable, avoiding racially-charged re-traumatizing experiences that people of color often experience in public open spaces (e.g.“birding while black”). Additionally, LandPaths’ Natural Area Trips were led by experienced LandPaths leaders with specific training to: (1) build participant comfort and sense of belonging; (2) facilitate quiet and individual time: sit-spots, solo walks, quiet walks, allow for different paces; (3) model exploration and discovery as opposed to learning from the expert; (4) engage in teachable moments; (5) display confidence in nature being enough; (6) include activities that encourage observation with multiple senses to deepen the experience, including art-based activities often led by partner agencies (water coloring, nature journaling, photography, storytelling, poetry); (7) end Nature Area Trip with personal reflection time. Outreach and activities were all led in Spanish and/or bilingually. Volunteer & Community Engagement: Educational Goals 2 and 4 (photos included; traditional foods, Sutter residence, family in garden) How these goals were met: LandPaths’ staff engaged residents as community gardeners and volunteers, tending their family, educational, and community garden plots using organic and generationally passed-down methods that they share with one another. Participant gained access to organic, locally produced, and healthy foods in an area under-resourced with markets supplying such produce. Participants share food during a weekly potluck, sharing “garden to table” recipes and learning about the 14 cultures active in the community. Volunteers coordinated and prepared the garden for the school groups and local community organizations who visited the garden. The Farm hosted Summers at Bayer that engaged a core group of volunteers who, in turn, participate in and promote civic engagement through regular community meetings.

Let’s Read Outside: Educational Goals 1 & 4. (photo included; Let’s Read and Story Walk) How Goals Were Met: LandPaths hosted 16 Let’s Outside activities, increasing the number of family members reading to children each day and creating positive bonding among family members and nature. Let’s Read Outside are bilingual nature-based book reading events that model reading with your children, specifically focused on early learners. This program complements our partnership with the library, with a book mobile and Story Walks at Bayer Farm. Reading outdoors promotes families bonding through healthy, low to no cost, nature-based activities.

Youth Education/ Nature and Science: Education Goad 1, 3 & 4 (photo included carrots nutrition, learning nutrition) How Goals Were Met: LandPaths’ Youth Programs Manager collaborated with participating classroom teachers to closely align the outdoor science curriculum with their grade-specific classroom learning and the academic and social/emotional needs of each group of students. Students learned about and experienced first-hand the importance of organic gardening, food chains and food cycles, healthy foods, and healthy outdoor physical activity from field trips to Bayer Farm. Education programming also incorporated lessons in climate change and environmental stewardship, for example The “garbology” lesson on waste and reduce/reuse/recycle/refuse principles, and hands-on stewardship projects such as composting, building garden beds, and organic gardening.

Healing in the Garden: Nature & Community as Mental Health Goals met: 1 and 4: Instruction in arts and science that connects nature experience; and healthy lifestyles and sound nutritional habits. (photo included, harvest festival) How Goals were met: Bayer Farm serves as a nature-based community hub, attracting residents to a known and trusted place that meets community needs. LandPaths engaged partner organizations (Master Gardeners, Raizes Collective) that facilitated workshops such as canning to build community skills in eating from the garden (or other fresh produce) to art workshops. LandPaths also hosted a Harvest Festival attended by approximately 100 people and featured resources on health, nature, financial planning, civic engagement, as well as celebrated the neighborhood’s culture with indigenous dancing and other music performances.

Outdoor environmental education and stewardship were by far the primary emphasis of the GOAL program activities. Over 1,000 students in Del Norte County schools participated in environmental activities aligned to California state academic standards in the areas of science, mathematics, and literacy while attending the Howland Hill Outdoor School. Approximately 40 students engaged in learning art techniques while in the natural environment from a certified art instructor. Over 125 students learned about adaptations of tide pool species while exploring coastal waters during minus tides. While learning about the unique qualities of the Smith River, over 45 students provided stewardship of the river by removing non-native plants while on rafting trips, and 80 children learned about the importance of salmon restoration on the Klamath River and the recent dam removal projects while experiencing boating and canoeing within the Klamath River estuary.

Community Partners offering on-site programming

Redwood Empire Food Bank: Summer Free Lunch and Family Food distribution; brings hundreds of people to Bayer Farm throughout the year, especially during the Summer, it is a significant outreach opportunity for LandPaths.

North Bay Organizing Project: Support community members with information on services and community initiatives that are relevant to this community.

Raizes Collective: Partnered with LandPaths to provide weekly after-school art lessons for high school students.

Becoming Independent: Partnered with LandPaths to provide their clients, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, garden-based programming. They tend a raised bed, as well as support additional garden projects.

Sutter Family Medicine Residency Program: Residents provide programming on health, wellness, focusing on health conditions affecting the Southwest community specifically: COVID, diabetes and cancer. Their kids activities inspire youth to become Physicians.

Roseland Regional Library: Foundational partner in our Let's Read sessions, offering additional books and resources for whole families. Installed a Story Walk for the community and elementary school groups that visit the garden. They have co-hosted key speakers and artists to come to Bayer Farm and bring the Bibliobus to Bayer Farm during the summer months. All these activities support early childhood literacy.

UC Master Gardeners (Sonoma Co.): A trained group of gardeners offer special workshops to increase the skills of the community gardeners and the community, such as composting and canning. These workshops encourage and support everyone to grow organic healthy produce in the garden or in apartments through container gardening.

Community Partners support garden stewardship Coalition Resilience Center: Dedicated to rebuilding the community after the 2017 fires from the ground up, lowering environmental impacts, creating regional economic benefit and helping protect residents from the impacts of future disasters. Community Building Initiative/Community Action Partnership: Leaders and CBI members, some of which are community gardeners hosted workdays named "Beautification of Roseland" that consisted of picking trash and sweeping the streets. They participated in our Dia del Nino to give away presents and backpacks for the back to the school. Many other community and corporate groups contribute to maintaining the garden through workdays: Natzirim Group, Food to Pantry, Wineries, local businesses. Education Partners La Academia del Pueblo: A Young People’s Academy focusing on student movements addressing social and community needs including climate change, sustainability and environmental justice. They use Bayer Farm as an outdoor classroom and help with seasonal projects.

Roseland University Prep: Both science class learning and referrals for completing community service hours.

Sheppard Elementary School, Migrant Education, Roseland Elementary School: Frequent visits to Bayer Farm as the school is across the street. Teachers use the garden to explore as part of their Science Classes, help with specific garden projects and learn about healthy eating as they enjoy quesadillas prepared with garden veggies and prepared by themselves, volunteers, and teachers.

Kids Street Learning Center, Meadow View, Luther Burbank Lincoln and Albert Biela Elementary schools: participate in LandPaths staff and volunteer led programming where students explore the garden, eat from the garden and participate in curriculum aligned with NGSS. (Education Goal 1, 3 & 4) Pasitos/Community Action Partnership: A play group for parents and their children ages 18 months to 4 years. Young families visit the garden for fun activities focusing on school readiness. They too learn about healthy eating with our garden-fresh vegetable quesadillas.

Tolowa Tribal members provided students and community members with their voice and stories as it related to the Yontocket massacre site within Tolowa Dunes State Park. Resilient Del Norte is a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing down adverse childhood experiences by strengthening families through providing positive family engagement activities. This organization supported the Hike It Baby program by helping parents get their children out into nature more often. Klamath Promise Neighborhoods is an organization that encourages parental engagement with their children through the local schools. This organization provided support for family GOAL projects and activity outings within the state and local parks through its Summer Bridge program. The Crescent City Harbor Commission supported the GOAL Fishing 101 field trip by providing space to hold the event.

Tips: Creating culturally relevant programing helps create environmental stewards and build community

Lessons learned: Catering to family programing is difficult as you need to cater to all age groups. separating the day by age rage works well based on energy levels and ability/knowledge.

Successful methods: Overnights work best as they help build community and help participants feel like they belong in the outdoors Providing youth programing works well with parents acting as chaperones.

Challenges: Tying programing to specific locations limits programing opportunities, wishing for more flexibility to be more response in programming As we cater to families, we do get high numbers during registration (families of 3-5 people). However, if one person from the family cant make it/doesn't want to the whole family doesn't show up. Proposed solution: at the time of registration ask for donation/refundable deposit(per party) to help minimize lack of attendance.

Focusing on the community partnerships by the Greater Outdoor Access and Learning program administrators has been significant, allowing the GOAL program to offer even more opportunities for the community to experience activities in the national, state, and local parks and outdoor settings within the county. Due to these partnerships, it is anticipated that participation in the program will increase its projected goals for both youth and other community members by at least 100% during the grant-funded period. The introduction of a membership event registration program has significantly increased participation rate in Greater Outdoor Access and Learning events. Community members register as a "member" of GOAL and receive email notification of all events for one-button registration. Reminder emails go out a couple of days before the event as reminder, significantly decreasing the no-show rate. The GOAL program will introduce text messaging for even more responsive participant engagement.