The Sacramento County Office of Education (SCOE) is announcing that, thanks to the generosity of the Sierra Club Foundation, more area elementary school students will benefit from outdoor education programs during 2009.
The Sierra Club Building Bridges to the Outdoors Project is awarding a grant of more than $23,000 to the Sly Park Conservation and Environmental Education Center, a residential environmental education school which is located in the Eldorado National Forest and is operated by SCOE.
Building Bridges to the Outdoors is a joint project of the Sierra Club and The Sierra Club Foundation. The funding will be used to reduce program fees for participating schools, allowing more students to attend and benefit from Sly Park programs.
"We are grateful to the Sierra Club Foundation for the organization's generosity in promoting environmental education," said Sacramento County Superintendent of Schools David W. Gordon. "With this funding, hundreds of area students will benefit from the hands-on, outdoor education experience that Sly Park offers."
Four Sacramento County school districts will participate in this program: Sacramento City Unified, Elk Grove Unified, Twin Rivers Unified and San Juan Unified. All participating schools will be required to participate in a Community Service Learning Project to fulfill grant requirements.
The Sly Park Conservation and Environmental Education Center is approximately fifty miles east of Sacramento, located in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The environmental education program teaches 5th and 6th grade students about the world in which they live. Students actively engage in field studies, learning about the forest ecosystem and the importance of conservation to our future. Credentialed teachers provide an instructional program to over 8,000 elementary students each year.
Sly Park partners include the U.S. Forest Service and the Eldorado National Forest. For more information about Sly Park, call (916) 228-2485.