Welcome, Vista Unified School District!

Our Teacher Training Inspires Vista Environmental Champions
For 2019-2020 School Year

Vista Unified joins our nationally recognized school field trip experiences, adding to formal district partnerships with Escondido Union and Del Mar Union. More than 30 Vista teachers joined us last month for inquiry-based conservation education training aligned with Next Generation Science Standards. 

Using the senses of hearing, smelling, touching and seeing, Vista teachers are immersed in the wildlife of the trails.

Our vista, or view, is that kids need the skills and confidence to take action on behalf of the environment.

SDG&E’s Environmental Champions grant is continuing its dedicated support with this expansion for student experiences called: Protecting Watersheds: From Inquiry to Action.

Together, we are providing nature experiences and conservation lessons to students in grade 5. In addition, we are mentoring middle and high school students to ensure continued and repeat opportunities to connect with nature.   

Protecting our Watersheds: From Inquiry to Action helps students draw connections between their own behaviors and the health of our planet. We begin in the classroom, then head outdoors on field trips throughout San Elijo Lagoon Ecological Reserve.

In the field, we help students make connections between climate change and our fragile ecosystems, such as noticing the die-off of willows due to an invasive beetle infestation, the increase of trash from flood events, or predicting the impact of sea level rise on mudflats. 

Watersheds are relevant to everyone. They provide amazing ecosystem services for our communities.  Our goal is to empower students and their families to take actions that will protect the air, water, and land we all depend upon for survival.

What do you notice? What do you wonder? What does it remind you of? Vista teachers observe their leaves. 

Nature Collective is all about nature for all—and we can’t do it alone. We are proud to recognize our partners as we collectively work together to drive a passion for nature, for all:

Vista Unified High School District + Escondido Union School District + Del Mar Union School District + Escondido Public Library + San Pasqual High School Ecology Club + Escondido Creek Conservancy + San Diego Zoo + California State Parks + I Love a Clean San Diego + County of San Diego Parks and Recreation + Climate Science Alliance + San Diego Children’s Discovery Museum

Thank You, SDG&E Environmental Champions