You Taught Me How To Take Care Of The Earth
Thank you for a wonderful 2012. Explore Ecology is proud to be Santa Barbara’s largest environmental education program. We work with over 12,000 students a year… and couldn’t do it without your support!
We look forward to the new year and to offering you even more Art From Scrap Workshops, Environmental Education Lessons, Worm Composting Classes, Art Openings, Art Exhibitions, and Monthly Beach Clean Ups. Our ReUse Store is gearing up for another outstanding year of bringing you a vast selection of reuse materials.
We wish you a Happy Holiday Season and want to share a letter that we received from a student who is participating in our Flows to the Ocean program.
“I just wanted to say thank you and I had so much fun! I learned so many things about How To Save The World. Did you know that the ocean is filling up with plastic? Of course you do, you’re the reason I know that. I already knew that polluting is bad for the Earth, but I didn’t know it ended up in the ocean and killed fish. On our field trip, I learned how it feels to clean the beach. When you gave us ten minutes to pick up trash, I was amazed by how we can make a change. Thanks again. You taught me how to take care of the Earth.”
Happy Holidays from Explore Ecology!
Students in Explore Ecology’s
Flows To The Ocean Program Clean The Beach
Josh was born and raised in Santa Barbara, where his passion and curiosity for the environment began and has continued to grow. During his undergraduate studies, Josh pursued this interest at the University of California at Santa Cruz, receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Studies.
Melissa Dodos developed her passion for creative reuse as a mother of four and elementary educator over the past 25 years. She loves to inspire creativity by connecting people with resources and ideas.
Veronica grew up in San Diego and spent four years in San Luis Obispo studying Animal Science at Cal Poly. As an undergrad she learned lots about livestock, agriculture, and wildlife.
Stephanie began her journey as an educator over twenty years ago working as a preschool teacher in Washington state for a cooperative preschool program affiliated with Whatcom Community College. She loved observing the wonder and curiosity of the children and bringing them out into nature to explore the natural world. She continued her love for learning and got her teaching license and then her Montessori certification and worked as an elementary teacher in Tribal, Public, and Montessori schools. She collaborated to create a school garden and her students loved it so much that it became a special place where they could garden, read, explore, play, and it provided a safe sanctuary for students to calm down and reset when they were having difficult moments.
Morgan’s mermaid soul is always seeking adventure—swimming a relay across the Santa Barbara Channel and taking the first photo of a newborn orca off Anacapa Island being standout experiences close to home.
Lindsay Johnson