December 4, 2023 • 14 mins
City Parks Foundation (CPF) is the only independent, nonprofit organization offering park programs in the 5 boroughs of New York City—including Summer Stage, free public arts, sports in the parks, and hands on educational programs for kids. We’re joined by Luis Gonzalez, Associate Director of Environmental Education for “Seeds to Trees” & “Coastal Classroom” at City Parks Foundation. For more, visit Cityparksfoundation.org.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:02):
Welcome to Get Connected with Nina delRio, a weekly conversation about fitness,
health and happenings in our community onone oh six point seven Light FM.
Good morning, and thanks for listeningto Get Connected. City Parks Foundation is
the only independent nonprofit organization offering parkprograms in the five boroughs of New York
(00:24):
City. They host Summer Stage,they provide free public arts sports in the
parks, and they offer hands oneducational programs for kids. We're joined by
Louis Gonzalez, Associate director of EnvironmentalEducation for Seeds to Trees and Coastal Classroom
at City Parks Foundation. Louis Gonzalez, thank you for being on the show.
Thanks for having me. You canfind out more at Cityparksfoundation dot org.
(00:48):
City Parks Foundation is huge, activein more than seven hundred and fifty
parks across the five boroughs, offeringa wide range of free arts and sports
and education, reaching more than sixhundred thousand people each year. The programs
you work with, Louis our environmentaland connected to Kids. We'll go into
detail, but in brief, whatare the Coastal Classroom program and the Seeds
to Trees program at City Parks learn. We strive to connect young people with
(01:15):
their urban green spaces, and wedo that through programs like Coastal Classroom and
Seeds to Trees. The Coastal Classroomprogram is STEM Marine Science programming, trying
to create memorable and impactful experiences forthis youth in their local waterfront parks where
we teach them about the ecology ofthese ecosystems in a place based education format
(01:38):
because they're right there in their waterfrontpark in their neighborhood. And we strive
to teach all the relevant topics forthe age group. So it's working with
six graders, and we are aligningour curriculum with standards education standards from the
DOE, also Next Generation Science Standardsand New York State's Learning Science Standards.
(02:00):
So these kids, they come intothe program via the New York City public
schools. Some of the programs thatwe've run are for school day, so
we work with New York City Publicschools and some of them are in after
school settings. Sometimes we are inNew York City parks, recreation centers,
(02:21):
or we are in public schools.For those after school programs, we collaborate
with the after school providers at theschool and we provide a STEM component into
that after school program with a focuson just bringing the students close to nature,
teaching them science using parks as outdoorclassrooms. Let's give a couple examples,
(02:43):
So coastal classroom. One of thethings you do typically I understand are
beach cleanups. What does a kidlearn from a beach cleanup? Yeah,
it's a fantastic question. So that'sone of our service learning components. We
try to show the students that theycan have positive impact in their environment,
and through beach cleanups, they takeownership of that waterfront park and they realize
(03:07):
first how much debris can be foundon the beach and how important it is
to take care of these aquatic ecosystemsand the shoreline as well. Right,
So it's very tangible. They gethands on collecting debris from the beach.
We account exactly how many different piecesand what types of items are being collected,
(03:29):
and then we weigh the end product. Right. So it's so tangible.
They can see the positive impact they'rehaving in their community and it's a
good way for them to take ownershipand becomes two wards of these spaces.
One of the other projects you've beenworking on is flooding. Why some waterfronts
that are higher risk than others.We've had so much rain in the last
(03:50):
year that flooding is commonplace in someareas of the city. What's their takeaway
from those programs? Well, someof these communities have different levels of impact
of flooding. Maybe some of thesixth graders that we work with with the
Coastal Classroom program may not remember Sandy, but maybe their parents do and they
(04:10):
were very tangible impacts to these communities. So we try to teach them about
certained flooding areas in New York Citythat are like the wetlands that we have
built on, and it's important forthem to know where do they live,
what level of flooding risk they havein those communities. We also teach them
about, you know, how toprevent more flooding by, you know,
(04:36):
when it's raining very hard not tonecessarily do laundry right so or use take
a shower, or do the dishes. Those are things that they can pass
on to their parents, and hopefullywe're not only teaching the students but also
their families. We're speaking with LuisGonzalez, He's Associate director of Environmental Education
(04:56):
for Seeds to Trees and Coastal Classroomby City Parks Foundation. You can find
out more at Cityparksfoundation dot org.You're listening to get connected on one I
was six point seven light FM.I'm Mina del Rio. Why did the
City Parks Foundation come up with theseprograms? I know they've been around a
little while, but what is thesort of overall goal of them? City
Parks Foundation created these programs thirty threeyears ago trying to fill a need for
(05:23):
bringing people out into the parks andconnecting them to the screen space in their
community. Our mission is to invigorateand transform these parks in dynamic, vibrant
centers of urban life, and wewe do withdraw our different lines of programming,
specifically education. We're trying to encouragethe students and the teachers themselves to
(05:45):
use parks at outdoor classrooms. Youknow, there's a lot of resources learning
opportunities that happen seasonally in the parks, so from you know, learning about
pollinators in the spring, or learningabout why are the leaves changing colors and
whether they fall down? What isthe ecology of these green spaces and how
(06:06):
can we use those green spaces asresources for teaching science. So that's a
little bit of what we try toshare with New York City community, all
five boroughs. Thirty three years agowhen these programs were started, I don't
think people were having the conversation yetabout STEM careers and the need to sort
of help propel kids into thinking aboutSTEM careers. I think the statistic I
(06:29):
saw recently is twenty seven percent ofboys or interested in STEM, but just
nine percent of girls. And I'llget to that in just a moment,
But there is some sort of careercomponent in there, or do you talk
about further you know, going furtherdown that path. Correct. So at
City Parks Learn, we try tobuild that interest in science for the students
(06:49):
that we work with. We tryto make those connections with nature. We
very often experience some alumni that comeback to us as interns. We offer
these paid internships to high school andcollege students and they come back and they
learn a little bit about the environmentaleducation field in an on the job learning
(07:11):
experience alongside our educators supporting the implementationof the program. So this is a
little bit of our career pipeline forstudents that have developed an interest in science
and education and they want to sharewith the next generation of students in our
programs. If you don't mind measking, were you one of those kids?
How did you get involved with CityParks Foundation in this role? I
(07:34):
was actually not a student of CityParks learn programming. I studied environmental sciences
and with a focus on wildlife conservation, and I ended up developing a career
in environmental education and nonprofit management.Very great, very great. So back
to that statistic, nine percent ofgirls are interested in STEM careers compared to
(07:55):
twenty seven percent of boys. Moreboys could be interested, but nine percent
of girls is not very very many. What would you attribute that to?
Do you think and is there somesort of outreach to get girls more interested,
more involved. Well, I'm notan expert in this topic per se,
but I do know what we aredoing to try to encourage female individuals,
(08:16):
female identifying individuals into science careers.We have a program called Green Girls.
It's also a STEM program with afocus right now on climate change and
water ecology and human impacts waterways,and we are encouraging young female identifying individuals
to pursue their interest in science.We are seeing more interest in science,
(08:41):
and when we create safe spaces forthem to develop that interest with like minded
peers, it's very successful. We'reseeing a lot of young women following careers
in the science field, and again, some of them come back to us.
Some alumni come back to us asinterns and they help facilitate the program,
(09:01):
developing a further interest in environmental educationand learning a little bit about that
specific field. What do you meannecessarily by a safe space. These programs
are designed for students to be ableto explore the environment in a safe space.
What does that mean and what isthe significance? Right in historically marginalized
(09:24):
communities, there's been a little bitof a stigma that parks are unsafe.
So we try to create a safespace for them to explore their interests in
science in the parks. We bringthem out to their waterfront parks, We
create social emotional learning opportunities, andwe use youth development principles and strategies to
(09:48):
make sure they feel comfortable and readyto get out of their shell, explore
these waterfront parks or these urban forestparks and learn about science and hopefully they'll
walk away feeling that these parks aretheirs to enjoy and they can come out,
you know, be stewards of thesegreen spaces and they should take care
(10:11):
of them and use those resources.So we're trying to create disconnect from that
stigma that you know developed in thelast few decades. You're also trying to
engage kids who live in communities withreal environmental challenges. Seeds to trees?
Does that? What do you wantto show them? In particular in that
program? The CSAR Trees City ParksLearned CISA Trees program is a forest and
(10:37):
urban ecology with a waterfront, freshwaterand marine components as well. We it's
it's standard aligned, it's it's NewYork State Science Learning Standard align and Next
Generation Science Standard Aligned to we bringthe STEM curriculum to New York City public
schools to support science teaching and thestudents science learning. And we try to
(11:03):
make just like certain topics a littlemore fun and more relatable for the students.
So can you give an example.So, for example, we talk
about human impacts, right, Soit's very different how we approach human impacts
with elementary than with middle school.So in elementary it's all about certain actions
(11:26):
that humans are doing to the waterways, for example agriculture. Right when there's
drawn off from big rains, itcan end up in the river and that
contaminates the water. So we tellthem a story. We call it Freddy
the Fish, about this fish goingdown the river and just encountering certain challenges.
Right, that's affecting its health.Right with the middle schoolers, we
(11:50):
have an activity where they build theircommunities around the river without being necessarily conscious
of impacts until the end when theyrealize that all their communities are connected and
the actions in one community are affectingother communities. Right at the end of
the activity, we reflect on howwould they build their communities differently to avoid
(12:11):
these impacts. Just for anybody who'swhether it's a parent or another teacher,
or somebody trying to get their kidsmore interested in stem in the out you
know, the outside, the coasts, the trees, whatever. From what
you've seen, what seems to engagekids most, What draws them in and
what do they get excited about most? I think memorable, impactful experiences outdoors
(12:37):
just create a ripple effect. Theywill remember those for the rest of their
lives. Right, So if theyhave a fun activity in a lake,
for example, and they're exploring macroinvertebrateslike bugs in the water that are indicators
of pollution. So if you findthem, that means the water is good.
If they're not there, you understandthere could be some pollution. That
(12:58):
is memorable place based experience and theywill remember that for a long time.
I encourage parents, educators, formalor informal educators to bring one of our
programs into their schools or join oneof our teacher trainings that we offer.
City parks learn as well. Whenwe try to encourage, just like from
(13:24):
environmental educators, formal teachers, toall the kinds of educators, youth workers
to use parks as outdoor classrooms andplan their own trips into the parks with
some predefined lessons, and we usuallygive them some specific lessons that they can
implement right away their low budget.They don't require them to spend a lot
(13:46):
of money. They can just printand laminate or just print and then get
out with some specific scavenger hunts tofind specific things in the park. We
believe that experiential learning and place basedis very impactful because they can relate to
these spaces and they learn the sciencethat explains how these screen spaces, these
(14:07):
green urban ecosystems are work. Thereare great resources on the City Parks Foundation
website Cityparksfoundation dot org. Luis Gonzalezis Associate director of Environmental Education for Seeds
to Trees and Coastal Classrooms at CityParks Foundation. Thank you for being to
get connected. Thanks for having meNina. This has been Get connected with
(14:30):
Nina del Rio on one oh sixpoint seven light Fm. The views and
opinions of our guests do not necessarilyreflect the views of the station. If
you missed any part of our showor want to share it, visit our
website for downloads and podcasts at oneoh six to seven lightfm dot com.
Thanks for listening.
Welcome to Get Connected with Nina delRio, a weekly conversation about fitness,
health and happenings in our community onone oh six point seven Light FM.
Good morning, and thanks for listeningto Get Connected. City Parks Foundation is
the only independent nonprofit organization offering parkprograms in the five boroughs of New York
(00:24):
City. They host Summer Stage,they provide free public arts sports in the
parks, and they offer hands oneducational programs for kids. We're joined by
Louis Gonzalez, Associate director of EnvironmentalEducation for Seeds to Trees and Coastal Classroom
at City Parks Foundation. Louis Gonzalez, thank you for being on the show.
Thanks for having me. You canfind out more at Cityparksfoundation dot org.
(00:48):
City Parks Foundation is huge, activein more than seven hundred and fifty
parks across the five boroughs, offeringa wide range of free arts and sports
and education, reaching more than sixhundred thousand people each year. The programs
you work with, Louis our environmentaland connected to Kids. We'll go into
detail, but in brief, whatare the Coastal Classroom program and the Seeds
to Trees program at City Parks learn. We strive to connect young people with
(01:15):
their urban green spaces, and wedo that through programs like Coastal Classroom and
Seeds to Trees. The Coastal Classroomprogram is STEM Marine Science programming, trying
to create memorable and impactful experiences forthis youth in their local waterfront parks where
we teach them about the ecology ofthese ecosystems in a place based education format
(01:38):
because they're right there in their waterfrontpark in their neighborhood. And we strive
to teach all the relevant topics forthe age group. So it's working with
six graders, and we are aligningour curriculum with standards education standards from the
DOE, also Next Generation Science Standardsand New York State's Learning Science Standards.
(02:00):
So these kids, they come intothe program via the New York City public
schools. Some of the programs thatwe've run are for school day, so
we work with New York City Publicschools and some of them are in after
school settings. Sometimes we are inNew York City parks, recreation centers,
(02:21):
or we are in public schools.For those after school programs, we collaborate
with the after school providers at theschool and we provide a STEM component into
that after school program with a focuson just bringing the students close to nature,
teaching them science using parks as outdoorclassrooms. Let's give a couple examples,
(02:43):
So coastal classroom. One of thethings you do typically I understand are
beach cleanups. What does a kidlearn from a beach cleanup? Yeah,
it's a fantastic question. So that'sone of our service learning components. We
try to show the students that theycan have positive impact in their environment,
and through beach cleanups, they takeownership of that waterfront park and they realize
(03:07):
first how much debris can be foundon the beach and how important it is
to take care of these aquatic ecosystemsand the shoreline as well. Right,
So it's very tangible. They gethands on collecting debris from the beach.
We account exactly how many different piecesand what types of items are being collected,
(03:29):
and then we weigh the end product. Right. So it's so tangible.
They can see the positive impact they'rehaving in their community and it's a
good way for them to take ownershipand becomes two wards of these spaces.
One of the other projects you've beenworking on is flooding. Why some waterfronts
that are higher risk than others.We've had so much rain in the last
(03:50):
year that flooding is commonplace in someareas of the city. What's their takeaway
from those programs? Well, someof these communities have different levels of impact
of flooding. Maybe some of thesixth graders that we work with with the
Coastal Classroom program may not remember Sandy, but maybe their parents do and they
(04:10):
were very tangible impacts to these communities. So we try to teach them about
certained flooding areas in New York Citythat are like the wetlands that we have
built on, and it's important forthem to know where do they live,
what level of flooding risk they havein those communities. We also teach them
about, you know, how toprevent more flooding by, you know,
(04:36):
when it's raining very hard not tonecessarily do laundry right so or use take
a shower, or do the dishes. Those are things that they can pass
on to their parents, and hopefullywe're not only teaching the students but also
their families. We're speaking with LuisGonzalez, He's Associate director of Environmental Education
(04:56):
for Seeds to Trees and Coastal Classroomby City Parks Foundation. You can find
out more at Cityparksfoundation dot org.You're listening to get connected on one I
was six point seven light FM.I'm Mina del Rio. Why did the
City Parks Foundation come up with theseprograms? I know they've been around a
little while, but what is thesort of overall goal of them? City
Parks Foundation created these programs thirty threeyears ago trying to fill a need for
(05:23):
bringing people out into the parks andconnecting them to the screen space in their
community. Our mission is to invigorateand transform these parks in dynamic, vibrant
centers of urban life, and wewe do withdraw our different lines of programming,
specifically education. We're trying to encouragethe students and the teachers themselves to
(05:45):
use parks at outdoor classrooms. Youknow, there's a lot of resources learning
opportunities that happen seasonally in the parks, so from you know, learning about
pollinators in the spring, or learningabout why are the leaves changing colors and
whether they fall down? What isthe ecology of these green spaces and how
(06:06):
can we use those green spaces asresources for teaching science. So that's a
little bit of what we try toshare with New York City community, all
five boroughs. Thirty three years agowhen these programs were started, I don't
think people were having the conversation yetabout STEM careers and the need to sort
of help propel kids into thinking aboutSTEM careers. I think the statistic I
(06:29):
saw recently is twenty seven percent ofboys or interested in STEM, but just
nine percent of girls. And I'llget to that in just a moment,
But there is some sort of careercomponent in there, or do you talk
about further you know, going furtherdown that path. Correct. So at
City Parks Learn, we try tobuild that interest in science for the students
(06:49):
that we work with. We tryto make those connections with nature. We
very often experience some alumni that comeback to us as interns. We offer
these paid internships to high school andcollege students and they come back and they
learn a little bit about the environmentaleducation field in an on the job learning
(07:11):
experience alongside our educators supporting the implementationof the program. So this is a
little bit of our career pipeline forstudents that have developed an interest in science
and education and they want to sharewith the next generation of students in our
programs. If you don't mind measking, were you one of those kids?
How did you get involved with CityParks Foundation in this role? I
(07:34):
was actually not a student of CityParks learn programming. I studied environmental sciences
and with a focus on wildlife conservation, and I ended up developing a career
in environmental education and nonprofit management.Very great, very great. So back
to that statistic, nine percent ofgirls are interested in STEM careers compared to
(07:55):
twenty seven percent of boys. Moreboys could be interested, but nine percent
of girls is not very very many. What would you attribute that to?
Do you think and is there somesort of outreach to get girls more interested,
more involved. Well, I'm notan expert in this topic per se,
but I do know what we aredoing to try to encourage female individuals,
(08:16):
female identifying individuals into science careers.We have a program called Green Girls.
It's also a STEM program with afocus right now on climate change and
water ecology and human impacts waterways,and we are encouraging young female identifying individuals
to pursue their interest in science.We are seeing more interest in science,
(08:41):
and when we create safe spaces forthem to develop that interest with like minded
peers, it's very successful. We'reseeing a lot of young women following careers
in the science field, and again, some of them come back to us.
Some alumni come back to us asinterns and they help facilitate the program,
(09:01):
developing a further interest in environmental educationand learning a little bit about that
specific field. What do you meannecessarily by a safe space. These programs
are designed for students to be ableto explore the environment in a safe space.
What does that mean and what isthe significance? Right in historically marginalized
(09:24):
communities, there's been a little bitof a stigma that parks are unsafe.
So we try to create a safespace for them to explore their interests in
science in the parks. We bringthem out to their waterfront parks, We
create social emotional learning opportunities, andwe use youth development principles and strategies to
(09:48):
make sure they feel comfortable and readyto get out of their shell, explore
these waterfront parks or these urban forestparks and learn about science and hopefully they'll
walk away feeling that these parks aretheirs to enjoy and they can come out,
you know, be stewards of thesegreen spaces and they should take care
(10:11):
of them and use those resources.So we're trying to create disconnect from that
stigma that you know developed in thelast few decades. You're also trying to
engage kids who live in communities withreal environmental challenges. Seeds to trees?
Does that? What do you wantto show them? In particular in that
program? The CSAR Trees City ParksLearned CISA Trees program is a forest and
(10:37):
urban ecology with a waterfront, freshwaterand marine components as well. We it's
it's standard aligned, it's it's NewYork State Science Learning Standard align and Next
Generation Science Standard Aligned to we bringthe STEM curriculum to New York City public
schools to support science teaching and thestudents science learning. And we try to
(11:03):
make just like certain topics a littlemore fun and more relatable for the students.
So can you give an example.So, for example, we talk
about human impacts, right, Soit's very different how we approach human impacts
with elementary than with middle school.So in elementary it's all about certain actions
(11:26):
that humans are doing to the waterways, for example agriculture. Right when there's
drawn off from big rains, itcan end up in the river and that
contaminates the water. So we tellthem a story. We call it Freddy
the Fish, about this fish goingdown the river and just encountering certain challenges.
Right, that's affecting its health.Right with the middle schoolers, we
(11:50):
have an activity where they build theircommunities around the river without being necessarily conscious
of impacts until the end when theyrealize that all their communities are connected and
the actions in one community are affectingother communities. Right at the end of
the activity, we reflect on howwould they build their communities differently to avoid
(12:11):
these impacts. Just for anybody who'swhether it's a parent or another teacher,
or somebody trying to get their kidsmore interested in stem in the out you
know, the outside, the coasts, the trees, whatever. From what
you've seen, what seems to engagekids most, What draws them in and
what do they get excited about most? I think memorable, impactful experiences outdoors
(12:37):
just create a ripple effect. Theywill remember those for the rest of their
lives. Right, So if theyhave a fun activity in a lake,
for example, and they're exploring macroinvertebrateslike bugs in the water that are indicators
of pollution. So if you findthem, that means the water is good.
If they're not there, you understandthere could be some pollution. That
(12:58):
is memorable place based experience and theywill remember that for a long time.
I encourage parents, educators, formalor informal educators to bring one of our
programs into their schools or join oneof our teacher trainings that we offer.
City parks learn as well. Whenwe try to encourage, just like from
(13:24):
environmental educators, formal teachers, toall the kinds of educators, youth workers
to use parks as outdoor classrooms andplan their own trips into the parks with
some predefined lessons, and we usuallygive them some specific lessons that they can
implement right away their low budget.They don't require them to spend a lot
(13:46):
of money. They can just printand laminate or just print and then get
out with some specific scavenger hunts tofind specific things in the park. We
believe that experiential learning and place basedis very impactful because they can relate to
these spaces and they learn the sciencethat explains how these screen spaces, these
(14:07):
green urban ecosystems are work. Thereare great resources on the City Parks Foundation
website Cityparksfoundation dot org. Luis Gonzalezis Associate director of Environmental Education for Seeds
to Trees and Coastal Classrooms at CityParks Foundation. Thank you for being to
get connected. Thanks for having meNina. This has been Get connected with
(14:30):
Nina del Rio on one oh sixpoint seven light Fm. The views and
opinions of our guests do not necessarilyreflect the views of the station. If
you missed any part of our showor want to share it, visit our
website for downloads and podcasts at oneoh six to seven lightfm dot com.
Thanks for listening.
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