Hello Everyone! My name is Becca and I’m the newest Education Specialist for I Love A Clean San Diego!
I have been involved in teaching students all ages about the environment since college when I discovered that my passion could easily translate to a career. The appeal for working as an Education Specialist for I Love A Clean San Diego is multifaceted, but one of the most important aspects I appreciate is how we focus on helping students understand their individual power. Students may not be able to drive or vote, but they can make a difference and improve their environment with their individual actions. For example, students have power over choosing whether or not to pick up their pet’s waste. This is a very simple task that takes minimal time and has huge benefits. Who knew kids had that power?
That explains why I Love A Clean San Diego (ILACSD) is great, but why do I do this work in general? I believe in empowering students. Every person can make a difference through their choices and that when they feel connected to their environment, they are more likely to make choices that support conservation and protection efforts. When students engage with their environment, it benefits the students’ development as future citizens of the world.
I also love the ocean. Whenever my family vacationed when I was little, it was to visit the beach. I have seen a variety of coastal systems now and have both the scientific and anthropogenic understanding of coastal ecosystems. This being said, there is also an aspect beyond the science. There is the element of emotion behind my connection to the ocean. The ocean is a powerful, incredible, yet calming presence. When students make that connection with the ocean for the first time, it is always an awe-inspiring experience for me.
ILACSD takes on a challenge that many others may shy away from – we introduce the students to the bigger picture of how undesirable items travel from land to our beloved ocean. This is a new challenge for me is to help students that might not regularly visit the ocean to understand how their everyday actions greatly impact such a giant body of water as the Pacific Ocean. It is an important lesson with great value and hopefully is a model for other programs to learn how to introduce such a big concept of interconnectivity to students of all ages.
If you’d like to have our educators visit your classroom, please contact our Education Manager, Emily!
