Solano youth link to nature — virtually
Since September, Solano RCD has has more than 1,300 participants and is planning to engage another 900 by September.
For the 12th year in a row, Solano County sixth-graders will be returning to the Suisun Marsh as part of Solano Resource Conservation District’s Watershed Education Program.
The difference? They will be doing so virtually.
Solano RCD will be hosting livestreams for students from the marsh, complete with chat boxes, games, polls, mindfulness activities and movement to help students process what they have learned on a level they are comfortable with, officials wrote in a news release.
Educators with Solano RCD will broadcast live from the marsh, allowing students to experience anything from a river otter poking its head out of the water or a great egret flying. Students will also be encouraged to go outside and make note of their own natural surroundings as they write poetry or keep nature journals.
“We have been participating in Solano RCD’s Suisun Marsh Program for many years, and we were very glad that they adapted it for distance learning so that this year’s students could still participate,” Robin Shishido-Bailey, a sixth-grade science teacher at Benicia Middle School, said in a statement. “While no virtual experience can ever replace students actually exploring the marsh in person, the RCD’s educators helped make it feel as if we were right there exploring alongside them.”
Following the COVID-19 outbreak in March and subsequent stay- at-home orders, Solano RCD began looking at ways to adapt its programs for the 202021 school year by surveying teachers, working with school district administrators and taking part in virtual teaching workshops.
“Our programs have adapted drastically in response to COVID-19 and this year has been in flux with program changes occurring each week,” Marianne Butler, Solano RCD’s environmental education program director, said in a statement. “However, our core messages have not changed. We continue to teach students about our local water resources in an interactive way and rouse curiosity about our outdoor spaces. We want students to be life-long observers of our natural world as well as stewards of local natural treasures like Suisun Marsh.”
Since September, Solano RCD has has more than 1,300 participants and is planning to engage another 900 by September.