Eco-Education is Golden Gate Bird Alliance’s award-winning youth program. Our educators and volunteers bring birds, bugs, and ecosystems to life through in-class lessons and field trips around the Bay Area. By bringing students into nature and fostering exploration through focused learning objectives, we are cultivating the next generation of nature-lovers and advocates.
The core Eco-Education program is focused on 3rd-5th graders and provides 4 in-class visits and 3 field trips. The curriculum follows the water-cycle through the watershed, visiting a marsh, creek, and beach. Students are encouraged to think about how animals and plants interact and how humans play a role in the ecosystem.
We prioritize Title 1 schools where the majority of students and their families are low income, and provide the program free of charge to those schools. The communities we serve are majority students and families of color, historically left out of nature spaces and environmentalism.
Golden Gate Bird Alliance and our Eco-Education program can be offered to community partners and other organizations outside of our regular programming. If you are interested in the full Eco-Ed program, learning more about shorter tailored programs, or volunteering with Eco-Ed please contact our Manager for Education and Outreach: Clayton Anderson at canderson@goldengatebirdalliance.org. Phone: 510-843-2222 Ext. 1005
VOLUNTEERING FOR THE 2023-24 SCHOOL YEAR
We’re looking for volunteers who love being outside with kids to help us on our weekday field trips to local parks with 3rd-5thgraders in Oakland, Richmond, and San Francisco. No prior experience as a teacher or birder is necessary – just a love of nature and children.
As a volunteer, you would assist us on our school day long field trips. Activities include bird walks, habitat restoration, and nature hikes. Field trip sites include Arrowhead Marsh in Oakland, Point Pinole in Richmond, and Glen Park in San Francisco.
Required:
– a love of working with children, nature, and being outdoors
– a desire to help young people ASK QUESTIONS and be INQUISITIVE about birds and the natural environment
– available at least 1-2 weekdays a month, for the whole school day ( usually from 9 or 10am to 2 or 3pm)
– willingness to travel to our field trip sites in Oakland, Richmond, and/OR San Francisco (carpooling often available)
Helpful but not required:
– physically able to travel about 1-2 miles, sometimes on unpaved and uneven trails (some but not all of our field trip sites have paved, wheelchair accessible trails)
– a love and ability to help students plant native plants
– a desire and ability to lead small groups (5-10 students each) in activities
– fluent in Spanish
Click here to see what it’s like to go on an Eco-Ed field trip!
SE NECESITAN EDUCADORES AMBIENTALES
Trabaje con estudiantes en el programa Eco-Oakland de nuestra organización GGAS. No se requiere experiencia previa. Prevemos 12 horas de entrenamiento para programas en el salón de clase y paseos al aire libre ecológicos.
Usted se compromete a participar en el entrenamiento y participar por lo menos 7 horas al mes con estudiantes de escuelas primarias del Este de Oakland y sus familias en paseos ecológicos y en programas en el salón de clase.
Los estudiantes aprenden sobre la ecología de las aguas y fauna local, con actividades creativas del salón de clase. En paseos al campo, a riachuelos locales, y al parque de Martin Luther King, Jr, litoral regional, los voluntarios trabajan en actividades de mano con los estudiantes, y restauran hábitos de los ríos, los pantanos y el mar, observan pájaros, estudian invertebrados, y examinan la calidad del agua.
Los voluntarios también asisten con los paseos de Eco-Oakland para los estudiantes y sus familias a los sábados al Océano Pacífico. Para muchas familias, éstos son sus primeros viajes al océano. Con estas excursiones altamente populares, los estudiantes y sus familias vienen a entender y apreciar la conexión entre sus vecindades, los ríos, la bahía, y el océano.
Awards:
- Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Award for Children’s Environmental Education-2008 (GEELA)
- Outstanding Service Award from the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE)
- Alameda County Watershed Confluence Youth Program Award – 2018
Our Current Funders:
- The Flora Family Foundation
- The East Bay Community Foundation
- California Coastal Commission Whale Tail Grant
