The Third Grade Education Program

In 1994, thanks to funding from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve began a program to introduce third graders to the natural environment in which they live. Many of these children had never been outside a city environment before. They had never walked a trail, seen a coyote, lizard, squirrel, woodpecker or any other animal in the wild. They had no idea of their connection to Nature.

The curriculum begins in the classroom and is coupled with an outdoor program at the Plateau. The trail experience is led by volunteer Docents who use age-appropriate story-telling techniques and hands-on experiences to involve the students. The children hear about our local history and the Native American influence on the Reserve.

Since then, over 70,000 children have been through this program. The success of this program is evident in the children's faces, and the enthusiastic way they participate in later discussions in their classrooms. The program sometimes is the first educational connection with children who have had trouble in school. The success is underscored by the children who return to the Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve within weeks and bring their parents.

Unfortunately, the Metropolitan Water District discontinued the funding for this program after the 2004-2005 school year. The Santa Rosa Plateau Foundation was formed to raise money to continue this extremely important program.