Action Education: Linking Schools, Businesses and Communities
From Environmental Indicator, Volume 3 / Summer 2000
July 1, 2000

by Carla M. Pérez

Last December, a site located in El Sobrante known as the Castro Ranch Pumping Station site owned by the East Bay Municipal Utilities District (EBMUD) sat barren and dry. The once-grassy site had withstood years of herbicide treatment used to suppress the growth of grasses that presented a fire hazard to adjacent neighbors. A tributary runs next to the site providing easy access for herbicides into the San Francisco Bay.

Today, thanks to the successful collaboration between the Ma’at Youth Academy (MYA), Sigma High School students, and EBMUD, the Castro Ranch Pumping Station now hosts the Castro Ranch Oak Grove, a vibrant grove of Coast Live Oaks.

Action Education
Environmental action projects are an important part of MYA’s Community and Global Ecology (CGE) curriculum. The goal of the CGE program is to increase the number of students of color completing college eligible science and math courses in urban high schools. However, classroom instruction is only one method used to engage students in activities that demonstrate the importance and relevance of education. Along with classroom instruction, it is important to provide students with learning experiences that are active and engaging and relevant to their lives.

The Science Framework for California Public Schools tells us, “It is necessary to engage students in science activities by placing them in a position of responsibility for the learning task. Students should be provided with experimental problem-solving experiences where the results have direct meaning for them”. The Castro Ranch Oak Grove action project did all of these things, as well as present a beautiful example of community, school, and business collaboration. The goal of the action project was to reduce surface runoff into the tributary by re-vegetating the site, while still minimizing the fire hazard. By minimizing surface runoff, the project also helped reduce the amount that eventually reaches hundreds of people who consume Bay fish.

The Making of the Oak Grove
On the drizzly morning of December 2, 1999 MYA staff accompanied students from Sigma High School to the Castro Ranch Pumping Station to meet Grounds Foreman John Morra and his crew. Together, through a sustainable and ecologically sound process, we planted 30 trees, including support stakes. The trees were fertilized with organic fertilizer and mulched with wood chips to insulate the ground for the trees and suppress the growth of grasses and weeds. In doing so, erosion is reduced and the fire hazard from plant overgrowth is eliminated.

On December 15, 1999 a dedication ceremony was held at the Castro Ranch Oak Grove to honor the work of the students and EBMUD. MYA presented awards to the students and the members of EBMUD. Morra received a special plaque in recognition of the tremendous effort he made to ensure the project’s success. And as a gift to us, EBMUD donated a beautiful wooden sign to the site that reads, “OAK GROVE: Planted by Ma’at Youth Academy”.

The Castro Ranch Oak Grove action project was a success for everyone involved! First and foremost, a small piece of land that had been poisoned and barren is now regenerated with a community of healthy trees and organic fertilization. As the grove matures, it will become more and more a significant contributor to the health of the surrounding ecosystem.

For the students, the project provided practical working skills, and an introduction to landscaping and sustainable land use. It also made them feel valued knowing that they had contributed to improving and area in a way that would have positive aesthetic, ecological, and social consequences. The Oak Grove is located close to where the students attend school, and close to where many of them live, allowing them to frequently revisit the mark they made on their community.

Several members of EBMUD grounds crew stated that they learned as much that day as they had to teach. “It gave us an opportunity to see alternatives to spraying on a small scale”, explained Morra. Furthermore, Morra and his crew agreed that they experienced personal satisfaction from working with the kids and turning a barren piece of land into a small forest.

As for the Ma’at Youth Academy, the environmental action project certainly enriched the existing CGE curriculum and helped us accomplish our goal of engaging urban high school students in hands-on science activities that relate to them and the issues in their local environment. We were able to expose urban youth to the concept and realization of sustainable land use, which we hope they carry with them for the making of a more sustainable future. MYA strives to unite community members, students, and local businesses in efforts that foster sustainable community development. The Castro Ranch Oak Grove action project proved to do just that, and we consider it a huge success!