Santa Paula Coastal Access & Education Project
This coastal education project provides a fun, learning opportunity for youth and parents who have limited opportunities to access the coast. The project introduces healthy physical activities that people can do on the coast for little to no cost and to familiarize them with coastal plants and animals. Participants from the ASPIRE Program, the after-school program in the Santa Paula Unified School District to learn about how the coast is connected where they live, and how climate change is affecting habitats and people. The program is geared towards 5th graders and parents will be encouraged to sign up as well. There will be 30 participants per trip. During each month of the trip, VCRCD will visit the ASPIRE program in SPUSD to give a 1-hour classroom presentation and go over the field trip topics. VCRCD will develop a coastal education curriculum that will start out by introducing broad topics such as climate change and include impacts/problems they would see locally. Three outings will be offered for each of the two years of the grant:
This project is funded by:
Connecting children and the general public to the California Coast
and its watersheds through experiential education, stewardship,
and outdoor experiences
The Field Trips
Ventura Beach Bike Ride
Students and parents will be transported to the Ventura pier where bikes and other vehicles will be rented for a ride up the coastal bike path to see and learn about human influence on beaches, sea level rise, and the landmark “managed retreat” of a parking lot. They’ll be able to learn to ID native birds, spread native plant seeds, and conduct beach fauna surveys in the “splash zone” near the Ventura River to see what lies beneath the sand.
Ventura Harbor
During this trip to the Ventura harbor, students and parents will be offered either a kayak, stand up paddleboard, or multi-person paddleboat to explore the calm, protected harbor. After the paddle, depending on energy, there will be one mile walk to the river estuary. A bird expert and plant guide will join and will assist in pointing out wildlife and plant species. After the nature walk students will conduct simple water quality testing in the harbor and estuary, understanding the differences and reasons for pollutants.
Ormond Beach
This trip will go over the local flora and fauna of the coast. Students and parents will walk through the Nature Conservancy land and end up at the beach where they will use binoculars to identify avian species and other wildlife. Youth will make observations in their field journal as well as drawings of the outside environment. Discussion will focus on the coastal dune system, its importance, as well as the threats caused by climate change. Youth will be given a list of things to ‘find’ on a nature scavenger hunt.
To learn more about this project or discuss ways to bring similar programs to your school please reach out to the Conservation Education and Outreach Coordinator at Heidi.Ortloff@vcrcd.org