FROM CLASSROOMS
TO COMMUNITIES
With wide eyes, pink cheeks, and dirty hands, first graders jockey for position, getting a closer look at a selection of Tahoe’s “creepy crawlers” brought into their classroom. Deep in the forest, students learn about macro-invertebrates and indicators for a clean watershed. And across town, high school students are drafting proposals for single-use plastic bans they will present at the next Town Council meeting.
SWEP
With the help of local partner organizations like the Sierra Watershed Education Partnerships (SWEP), Tahoe Institute for Natural Science (TINS), and many others, Tahoe Truckee Unified School District (TTUSD) students are receiving relevant, hands-on, and authentic science education for sustainability and environmentalism that results in self-identified, real-life changes that benefit the community, the planet, and future generations. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) describes environmental education that includes stewardship as “providing opportunities for participants to connect with local ecosystems and tools that can help them understand how individual behavior impacts the environment. These activities encourage people to take an active role in managing and protecting these resources.” TTUSD students are receiving stewardship education that is empowering them to take their knowledge outside the classroom and into our community, making measurable impacts right now: using their voices at the policy level, volunteering for restoration projects, mitigating waste at their school district, and so much more.
TTUSD students are the next generation of our planet’s biggest advocates. An Insider’s Guide
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