They Came. They Cleaned! Earth Day 2022.
Escondido Students Display the True Spirit of Earth Day.
Earth Day is every day at The Escondido Creek Conservancy, but we wanted to organize something special to mark the occasion this year. So on Thursday, April 21st, and Thursday, April 28th, The Escondido Creek Conservancy organized cleanup events with 3rd graders from Rose Elementary and Conway Elementary at local Escondido community parks to celebrate Earth Week. Students picked up litter at Washington Park and Grove Park in Escondido. They also produced anti-litter signage as part of the event. A representative from the City of Escondido, Councilmember Consuelo Martinez, also attended to thank the children for their work.
“The kids LOVED it! What a great day! Thank you for the opportunity. It truly made an impression on the kids. When we got back to school, we picked up our lunches and went out to the field to have a picnic. Usually, trash is flying all around whenever we eat out on the field. I kid you not; there was not one single piece of trash left on the field. In fact, I heard several kids reminding others to pick up their trash to help protect the animals’ habitat.”
-Tamara Centrofranchi, a 3rd-grade teacher at Rose Elementary
The Conservancy provides a Habitats program to all 3rd graders in the Escondido Union School District (EUSD). The Habitats program culminates in a final component where students are tasked with performing conservation action that benefits local habitats. The community park cleanup events fulfilled the action component for Rose Elementary and Conway Elementary. These events, and the Habitats program they are part of, are intended to foster environmental stewardship attitudes amongst local youth and inspire the next generation to take action to benefit the community and the planet. Escondido Union School District and the City of Escondido helped facilitate the events.
The cleanups were made possible by the grant the Conservancy received from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Planet Stewards. The Conservancy’s Habitats program was funded for the 2021-22 school year by SDG&E’s Environmental Champions grant and by Malk Nature Fund.
You can help The Conservancy continue their efforts to provide outdoor education to you by donating to our Seed the Future Education campaign. The Conservancy is a 501c3 non-profit and donations are tax-deductible.
Support the Conservancy’s Education Fund.
