Reaches to Beaches

‘Reaches to Beaches’ is a hands-on watershed education program that takes place both inside and outside of the classroom. The main objective of ‘Reaches to Beaches’ is to encourage students to make the connection between upland stream reaches and downstream coastal beaches. Targeted mainly for high school classrooms, this semester long program engages students in watershed surveys (physical, biological and chemical), field trips (challenge course and boating day on Humboldt Bay), and the development of service-learning Stewardship Action Plans.

This environmental education curriculum follows a semester long curriculum journal that was created by Natural Resources Services (NRS). The curriculum starts with a teambuilding unit, emphasizing the importance of teamwork when making decisions about natural resources, and then moves on to watershed-related issues, including watershed and riparian systems, macro-invertebret surveys, and water quality testing. Students also have the opportunity for two field trips, providing opportunities for community networking. Examples of such community networking opportunities include: stopping at Freshwater Farms on our way to Humboldt Bay, where students go boating on the historic Madaket, visiting Humboldt Fish Action Council’s fish hatchery, and partnering with Humboldt Adventures for a ropes course day. As a culminating project, students develop Stewardship Action Plans, which allow them to become stewards in their watersheds, and may be implemented by their classroom or filed with the service-learning department at their respective school sites. Projects may include: storm drain marking, trash pickup, trail maintenance, invasive plant removal, native tree planting, or water quality testing programs. This watershed education journal is available for interested teachers and has an accompanying curriculum outline.

Since NRS is not a site-based facility, we go into the classrooms to facilitate ‘Reaches to Beaches.’ NRS provides in-class presentations to diverse populations of students, mainly targeting charter and underserved schools. Because watersheds are a main emphasis for NRS, ‘Reaches to Beaches’ draws upon many of the resources already developed or available, such as maps, water quality information, equipment, and curriculum materials.