'Environmental Volunteers' Work To Close Gap on Science Ed

News from Environmental Volunteers:

Over 250 community members attended Wake Up to Nature 2014, the Environmental Volunteers annual breakfast at the Crowne Plaza Cabaña Hotel on May 6 to learn more about their mission to provide hands-on science and nature education through classroom-based programs, summer camps and the EcoCenter in the Palo Alto Baylands. 

Many attendees were surprised that only 20 percent of Bay Area elementary school teachers teach more than one hour per week of science. The majority of students living in the heart of the Silicon Valley and biotech industry is deprived of a science education. 

As a result, California students rank in the bottom five among states on national science tests.  

For over 40 years, Environmental Volunteers has devoted countless hours to closing this gap.

The Environmental Volunteers has over 100 volunteer docents who inspire, teach and sometimes change the lives of more than 10,000 students each year. 

Every day of the school year, volunteers set up learning stations in local classrooms. They may bring buckets of bay mud to teach about the bay food chain or discuss conscientious use of water or lead over 150 field trips. 

“Our volunteers open minds and they open doors, and it’s all because they opened their hearts to making a difference in a child’s life,” observed Allan Berkowitz, Executive Director.  

He credited his 9th grade teacher with changing his world forever by showing how he and his fellow students could make a difference for the environment.

Inspiring first-hand stories were told by Charin Park, an EV youth volunteer, Sarah Portnov, a teacher at East Palo Alto Charter School and Craig Goldman, Superintendent, Mountain View Whisman School District. 

All spoke about how the EV has transformed the lives of students by teaching them that each one of them can make a difference in the world and on the world.

Exciting upcoming activities for EV are the Junior Naturalist Program, an after school club for 3rd-5th graders, Girls in Science, a Youth Leadership Board, Spanish-language version of the Bay Tour smartphone app, installing a research grade weather station at the EcoCenter.

The EcoCenter is a nature center and community resource open to the public in the Palo Alto Baylands. 

The historic Birge Clark designed “paddlewheel boat” building has been restored as the home of the EV, where visitors of all ages can gather to learn about and be inspired by nature. 

The EcoCenter at 2560 Embarcadero Road, Palo Alto, is open Mondays, Thursday, Fridays, 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Starting in June, Sundays 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Follow the group here on Facebook.