Celebrating Earth Day 

From the Executive Director

As I start to plan for next year, I have thought hard about what Living Classroom’s lessons mean to each and every child we encounter.

At Living Classroom, we believe that it is important to focus on what we can do for our environment. Our students must learn the importance of saving water, the impact of planting food we can and should eat, why pollinators matter, the importance of composting and recycling, and why climate change is critical to our future survival. Most importantly, our children need to know how our individual and collective behaviors impact all of these things.  

Earth Day

Earth Day is the largest secular observance in the world--celebrated by more than 1 billion people every year--and a day of action that aspires to change human behavior and provoke policy changes. Visit the Earth Day website (www.earthday.org) to learn more about this important global movement that should be a part of our lives every day, not just on April 22. 

Please visit Living Classroom’s For Parents page on our website that has many ideas for activities and resources, including videos of some of our lesson activities that help nurture our planet. 

For additional reading, The Brookings Institute has published a very thoughtful article about how parents and teachers can help our children: https://www.brookings.edu/research/unleashing-the-creativity-of-teachers-and-students-to-combat-climate-change-an-opportunity-for-global-leadership/.

Transitions

Staff News

It is with mixed emotions that the Living Classroom family bid farewell and good luck to longtime staffer, Mallory (Traughber) Matthews, Program Manager of the Mountain View Whisman School District (MVWSD) program.  In her eight years with Living Classroom, Mallory has been instrumental in developing our program from 5 schools teaching one grade, to 11 school sites with 500 to 600 lessons per year delivered to TK to 6th graders. This past year, Mallory spearheaded the Program Delivery Team to new levels of resourcefulness, collaboration, and creativity to assure that our “new” virtual lessons are just as engaging, robust, and fun as our in-person lessons. Mallory will be missed by staff, students, teachers, and docents. See Mallory's posting below. 

                                
Alexis Li, currently an educator with the MVW Program Delivery Team, has accepted the responsibility of Program Manager for MVWSD. She will be supported by Susan Harder, a longtime Living Classroom educator now returning,  and Kim Reynolds, an educator formerly with the Campbell program, also returning to Living Classroom. I have complete confidence that  this “A” team will keep our students engaged for the rest of the academic year! These fantastic educators are talented, energetic and experienced--our children will be in great hands!

What Living Classroom Taught Me

Eight years ago I taught my first Living Classroom lesson, “Life Cycle of a Tomato,” for a class of 24 second graders. I could hardly believe my new job was to take students outside (during the school day!) to teach environmental education lessons. That first lesson was a blur--anxiously I stumbled through the vocabulary words, corralled the students through several activities, and ensured the parent volunteers were set up with the necessary materials to assist. The hour flew by as the students squashed tomatoes with glee for seed saving. Before I knew it, they were in a line to head back into the classroom. I asked the teacher how she thought the lesson went. She said, “I think you need to slow down.” I exhaled. She was right--why was I rushing the students through this experience? I had the opportunity to let this hour together outdoors be truly meaningful, to let kids explore, discover, and feel joy. Here’s a chance to bring what they are learning in their science textbooks to life through engaging, real-world activities.

See Mallory's full reflection here. 

New Programs

Beginning in August 2021, Living Classroom will return to the Campbell Union School District with programming at six schools in TK to 3rd grades. We are very excited to be back in Campbell, thanks to the generosity of the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority, The Leslie Family Foundation, and the Campbell Union School District.