Building Bridges to the Outdoors

Children today spend an unprecedented amount of time indoors and, as we continually hear, youth obesity rates are on the rise. Kids need to get outside. A study by the California Dept. of Education, funded by the Sierra Club, showed that students had a 27% increase in science test scores after a weeklong outdoor experience. And while everyone these days seems to be talking about the need for children to have outdoor recreational experiences, the Club's Building Bridges to the Outdoors (BBTO) program is doing something about it.

BBTO's goal is to give every child in America an opportunity to have an outdoor experience by:

• promoting the positive benefits of outdoor experiences on children's academic achievement;
• working with educators, health organizations, law enforcement officials and outdoor recreation groups to show that outdoor experiences are critical in helping children acquire leadership skills, gain respect for themselves and the environment, and develop positive relationships with their peers and community members;
• engaging public officials to provide funding to sustain programs that get children outside;
• providing children with leadership skills to go back to their community and create positive social change through Youth Leadership Training.

BBTO currently partners with groups in California, New Mexico, Washington and elsewhere across the country to offer outdoor experiences to youth. Right here in Los Angeles, BBTO partners with the Boys and Girls Club of San Gabriel Valley and the Crenshaw High School Eco Club.

Angeles Chapter member Bill Vanderberg is the Dean of Students at Crenshaw High and also serves as the Eco Club's advisor. Vanderberg challenged his students and those at Dorsey High School to put aside long-standing athletic and gang rivalries and take advantage of an opportunity to connect with nature by spending a week together in Yosemite National Park. The students rose to the challenge and even renamed themselves Dorshaw. The trip was profiled in the July/August 2009 issue of Sierra Magazine. If you missed it, you can still find it online.

In addition, the September 2008 edition of Southern Sierran profiled Eco Club member and BBTO participant Muthoni Gaciku. Read about Muthoni's awakening to the wonders of nature during her BBTO trip to Yosemite.

Not only does Bill Vanderberg advise Crenshaw High's Eco Club, but he also serves as the Lead Volunteer Coordinator for BBTO. The Angeles Chapter's Juan Martinez is BBTO's Volunteer Youth Coordinator. Martinez is a former at-risk youth who grew up in a rough part of Los Angeles. A trip to the Grand Tetons when he was 15 was a life-changing experience for Martinez. As he tells it, it was the first time that he really saw stars in the sky. He is now an activist who engages young people from various backgrounds in environmental issues. Find out more about BBTO at its website.