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Jun 21, 2006 9:40 pm US/Pacific
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Outdoor Lessons For Future Leaders
Jefferson Award Winner Sheilah Fish
by Kate Kelly
OAKLAND (CBS 5) ―
On an overcast afternoon in spring, tenth graders from Oakland High School are surveying their restoration work along Oakland's Sausal Creek. Eight months ago, the hillside along the water was a jungle, choked with ivy and non-native plants. The clean-up and planting of 150 new native plants has been this year's outdoor classroom. It's a hands-on learning project in both environmental science and community responsibility. "It took hard work," says one student. "About 20-30 hours maybe."
Putting middle and high-schoolers to work on outdoor community projects has been a vision of Sheilah Fish. Six years ago, she started the non-profit EarthTeam, which pairs schools with field work ranging from creek restoration to erosion control to trail clearing. The work is challenging, the mission simple.
"It's to inspire teens to be stewards of their environment," Sheilah explains. "And to make life easier for teachers and enrich their curriculum."
Today Sheilah's organization partners with over 20 schools, with teachers like Katie Noonan.
"It definitely has made a lot of difference," says Katie. "Our attendance is 100 percent because our students really enjoy doing these real things. I think book learning is important and fun but this puts it into a real context in their lives."
Student Sam Tin agrees. "I learned a lot and in the future I would come out here and clean up too, because it's better for our parks," he says.
Sheila wasn't always an environmental activist. For 25 years, she practiced psycho-therapy in Contra Costa County. It wasn't until she helped volunteer at an Earth Day event that her path changed.
"I said I'll organize a festival," she says with a smile. "I don't know why I think things will be easy, but it got off the ground and we had a really neat event. It grew from there."
For ten years, Sheilah ran the Earth Day festivities in Contra Costa County. Then she saw another need to be filled. She says she noticed teachers were overwhelmed. "They didn't have the time or resources to create a community project that really connected to their curriculum and would really inspire kids," she explains. "So we thought, let's just be available to offer projects it they choose."
In addition to pairing schools with projects, EarthTeam has a staff naturalist, they bring in guest speakers, and even have a media coordinator so that kids can document what they do on EarthTeam's website.
Student Olempia Castillo says she didn't used to feel so involved in community. Now, she says, "We're helping our city too. We're helping the plants and animals grow."
Sheilah says that's the whole idea - to let students see they can make changes themselves. So for helping make environmental connections in her community, and inspiring leaders for the future, this week's Jefferson Award in the Bay Area goes to Sheilah Fish.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)