Teacher
For more than 18 years, the Pacific Beach Coalition alongside teachers, school administrators, and parents have built collaborations and realized great achievements in connecting students to nature and engaging the next generation of Earth Heroes in coastal stewardship.
It All Started with Schools
It began in 1997, when our meetings were held at the former Sharp Park Elementary School (now Ingrid B Lacy Middle School) increasing access to educational programs and hands-on activities that included student projects, assemblies and the launch of the popular annual “Oceans Week” held to inspire stewardship. Today, more than 150,000 young Earth Heroes each year learn the importance of their role in protecting our ocean and beach habitats by applying classroom learning to taking action in the field during Adopt-A-Beach programs, native habitat restoration events, Earth Week and Earth Day of Action, and Coastal Cleanup Day.
We Partner with Teachers
The Pacific Beach Coalition welcomes partnerships with teachers and schools looking to create, build upon and/or expand their environmental education programs. Studies demonstrate that students’ cognitive behavior and school performance is influenced by their time experiencing nature. Schools with environmental education programs score higher on standardized tests in math, reading, writing and listening,1 and exposure to environment-based education significantly increases student performance on tests of their critical thinking skills.2
We Offer Free School Assemblies
Create an Earth Hero team in your classroom. Share your students’ and school’s enthusiasm for our beaches, native habitat, wildlife and ocean with us!
Every year, we go to the schools with our professional speakers to educate the students about the Earth Honoree of the year. During the school assemblies, the students, teachers and parents learn about the importance of the Ocean, the dangers of marine litter and how they can help the Earth Honoree. Our speakers go through their interactive presentation to keep the students captivated and motivated.
Our school assemblies are then supported by field programs that offer experiential learning during outdoor adventures. We always encourage the students to come to our beach cleanups with their school for a week day cleanup or on a weekend with their family. We also recommend the school to organize a cleanup or habitat restoration event at their school to beautify the space and keep the students connected with their surroundings.
Overall, we love to work with teachers to create and coordinate projects, or enhance curriculum with hands-on learning that align with common core and national science standards, earn extra credit or fulfill community service hours.
Because a project or activity can be unique, we are happy to assist in designing and planning activities that meet learning goals, and have a rewarding impact on students and our community.
In addition, students, teachers and parents are always welcome to attend our public education events such as film nights and tap into our online educational resources focusing on our annual environmental theme to enhance and reflect on the meaningfulness of projects with students.
Contact us directly to partner with the Pacific Beach Coalition, or learn more about how to get your students started in coastal stewardship and learning more about protecting and preserving our ocean, beaches, coastline and natural beauty we all enjoy and appreciate!
1 School Performance: Offering environmental education programs in school improves standardized test scores. Study: Bartosh, Oksana. Environmental Education: Improving Student Achievement. Thesis. Evergreen State College, 2003.
2 Natural Settings and Cognitive Behavior: Children who are exposed to natural or outdoor settings receive benefits to their cognitive health, such as reduction of ADHD symptoms. Study: Wells, N.M. (2000). At Home with Nature: Effects of “greenness” on children’s cognitive functioning. Environment and Behavior (32), 6, pp 775-795. Critical Thinking: Through environmental education offered in schools, students increase their critical thinking skills of performance on tests. Study: Ernst, Julie (Athman) and Martha Monroe. “The effects of environment-based education on students’ critical thinking skills and disposition toward critical thinking.” 10.4 Environmental Education Research, Nov. 2004.