Episode 04: Youth and Water in California Cities
“The latino community is interested in water education. We do like outdoor recreation .. sometimes organizations fail to truly understand the most appropriate way to bring this population in. That just increased my passion for working in water conservation.”
Claudia Diaz Carrasco
A conversation with 4H Youth Development Advisors Marianne Bird and Claudia Diaz Carrasco about different youth development programs that focus on water education and public engagement with science in California's cities. Recorded May 5, 2020.
guests on the show
Claudia Diaz Carrasco
Claudia Diaz Carrasco is a 4-H Youth Development Advisor for Riverside and San Bernardino Counties with expertise in water-based youth program development. Diaz Carrasco received her B.S. in Food Industry Engineering from ITESM in 2012, a M. Ag. in International Agriculture from Oklahoma State University in 2014, and a M.S. in Management and Marketing from Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla in 2015. As an Area 4-H Youth Development Advisor, her primary focus is to develop, implement, evaluate, strengthen and expand local 4-H programming to better serve currently under-represented populations and places, including Latino and/or low-income youth in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties.
Marianne Bird
Marianne Bird is a 4-H Youth Development Advisor for Sacramento County. She completed her Bachelor of Science degree in Human Development and her Masters of Science in Community Development. Before arriving at Cooperative Extension in 1998, Bird spent 13 years working for Camp Fire Boys and Girls where she oversaw clubs, designed programs, and managed a large volunteer network. Bird has extensive experience working for and with after school programs, especially in the realm of water and science literacy. She spends much of her time administrating the 4-H program in the county, and bringing research and training to community collaborative projects and other youth-serving organizations.
TRANSCRIPT
Mallika Nocco
Welcome to Water Talk from the University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. I'm Dr. Mallika Nocco, a cooperative extension specialist in soil plant water relations and irrigation management.
Sam Sandoval
Hi, I'm Sam Sandoval. I'm a faculty and extension specialist in water resources.
Faith Kearns
And I'm Faith Kearns, the academic coordinator for the California Institute for Water Resources.
Mallika Nocco
Thanks for joining us on Water Talk. Sam and I are cohosting on our own today as Faith is busy finishing up her heavily anticipated book about science communication on controversial and emotional issues. Today we are talking 4-H and water education programs. Our guests are Marianne Bird and Claudia Diaz Carrasco, both are 4-H youth development advisors in Sacramento and Riverside County, respectively, and they have a very important expertise and just a passion for youth development as well as water education. So welcome Marianne and Claudia.
Sam Sandoval
Hey, Claudia, can you explain us what 4-H means?
Claudia Diaz Carrasco
Yeah, 4-H is a youth development program and it's available for every youth in every county in California. In fact, virtually in every county of the nation and parish, which make it the largest youth development program in the nation. 4-H stands for head, heart, hands and health, and youth 5-19 years old can participate in 4-H youth through clubs, schools, after school programs, camps and any other special interests that our county agents and our volunteers come up with in their local communities. I think what is important to note about 4-H is that kids and teens in our programs complete hands on projects in areas like health science and agriculture, but it's really about the experience of diving into something, getting your hands dirty, and then just trying to figure out things with caring adults, right? So it's not about experts, but it's about real community people that get empowered and trained by our university people, and then just helping youth come up with their own learning.
Sam Sandoval
I've been reading that there is a high impact of these programs in the retention of students throughout their education. Can you talk about also that Claudia?
Claudia Diaz Carrasco
Yeah, definitely. So just in my personal experience, but also in the research choices, one of the biggest outcomes for each member is that they become great public speakers. Our youth are comfortable, whether talking in front of a five year old or talking in front of our senators or assembly members. In fact, just last week, we had some calls with some of our elected officials and it's impressive how youth develop the confidence not only to talk about what they learn in our programs, but also how they use this learning to help their communities. So that gets me to the second one. Our youth are usually more highly engaged in their communities, they're civically engaged as well. They are four times more likely to be engaged in participation outside 4-H activities and other people's. Also, there are longitudinal studies that show that the youth participate in 4-H become like, you know, more college and career ready, they present less non desired behaviors, and they just live healthier lives than the rest of their peers.
Mallika Nocco
That's very interesting, just the idea that the experiences that the kids that participate in 4-H are going to follow them through their lives and have these long lasting impacts. Thinking about that development of youth, experiential learning, and youth leadership, Marianne, I was wondering if you could talk to us a little bit about a water education program that you're involved with called the Water Wizards, which I think is just a wonderful name.
Marianne Bird
Thank you for having me on your podcast today. Yeah, Water Wizards. Actually, the program began in 2006, which was about the time that Harry Potter was still big news. So that was how we came up with the name. And back in those days, I was approached by a colleague, there was some grant money from our national 4-H council to do water education. And my colleagues said, I really think you ought to do this in Sacramento. The purpose of the project, it needed to be water based. And really, what we do in Water Wizards is increase a student's understanding of water. All sorts of issues around water and different properties about water, but also increase awareness and commitment to wanting to make changes in our community in order to be able to conserve and protect this valuable resource.
We created a 12 week curriculum that's part of the project. It's delivered to fourth to sixth graders in expanded learning programs. So these are programs that are after school, typically here in Sacramento County, they're in lower income communities. And what we do is we train their staff to deliver this 12 week curriculum. So the curriculum is in three different units. The first unit has four sessions that include the water cycle, watersheds, pollution, understanding water usage. The second unit is about water properties. So kids do experiments testing salinity, water density, hardness, they do a blind taste test the different types of bottled water to see which kind of water really tastes the best.
The last component, this totally ties in with what Claudia was saying earlier in 4-H, we have a community action part of our program. And it's a service learning project where the students learn the importance of improving their communities and then make a plan and carry out a plan to make an effect on a water issue where they live. But I think the really exciting thing about Water Wizards is that it's not just that we wanted kids to learn about water, but we wanted them to actually be scientists and to discover as much as they could the information on their own. So when we talk about watersheds, we don't just talk about watersheds, the kids build model watersheds, and they see what happens when they make it rain on their watershed and where the water goes.
Or when we talk about pollution we actually purchase these enviroscapes where the kids read a story and they put different pollutants on this large plastic model. And they can see when it rains, where the pollution goes. They actually make an egg float by adding salt to water. When it comes to learning about water usage, they do a survey on their family and see how often toilets get flushed, how many loads of laundry get done, how often the lawn gets watered. And then they're able to take that data and compare amongst their classmates. So it's really the idea of helping kids to become scientists and to discover what we know about water on their own.
Mallika Nocco
How old typically are the kids who are participating in the 12 week program? Is it at summer school? What's the range? And then similarly, who typically are the folks who decide to become instructors?
Marianne Bird
Okay, so the students who receive the program are actually fourth, fifth and sixth graders, and the people who decide quote unquote, too become instructors are people who are working in after school programs, right now, predominantly in the Elk Grove Unified School District. So we actually have a contract with Elk Grove Unified. We serve about 400 of their students annually with the project.
These may be program leaders that just happened to be working with the fourth and fifth graders, so they sort of get voluntold that they'll be doing this. Or they may be people who have an interest in teaching science, or just in working with 4-H. Oftentimes, they come with, like a lot of the general public, a minimal knowledge base about water. And so when we do our trainings, we actually do three different three hour trainings with them. So they actually get to do the hands on activities in these three different components with their colleagues before we send them out with their equipment to do it. With the youngsters.
Sam Sandoval
This is a very nice science and awareness program that you're developing. And it seems that there is a need also for weather education at an early age. I know that Claudia you have been also working in similar science and awareness water programs. Can you share with us the Disney Conservation Fund project that you led with multicultural, multilingual children from disadvantaged communities in Riverside?
Claudia Diaz Carrasco
I can tell you about the Disney Conservation Fund. A couple of years ago, similar to Marianne's case, national 4-H council reached out to Disney and they had the primary goal of providing access to 4-H programs and other education, but they were really targeting their funding to underserved urban youth. In Southern California, because of the dense population, sometimes you have no idea where the water is coming from. And so our primary goal was to cultivate positive attitudes towards the environment. And then, in fostering in the youth the responsibility to protect nature. And in the counties, Riverside County, for the people in state or outside that are not familiar, we have desert, we have mountains, we have chapparal, and so I was looking for something or an environment that could bring together all the youth in the county, right? But we are all water consumers and so that's why I really appreciated the invitation to this funder, because I couldn't become myself an expert on forest or desert. But I think that if we put something together that was close to the kids and that brings a community water.
I myself didn't know anything about the Santa Ana watershed, which is the system that feeds most of our uses in the LA, Riverside and San Bernardino area. And so for me, it was a fascinating experience to really connect with urban youth, especially minority youth to the places where there used to be a river and there is no longer a river, right? I mean, the people, they drive it every day. And it's like, is it a watershed? Like what's happening? And I think also the way that I did it was meaningful because I was not born and raised in the US. And I do have two science degrees. But when water was not being an expert, just getting to know the technicalities, what's the difference between a river and a watershed, and just guiding to the youth through these basic process was really humbling. And then I realized the importance. Some of the kids in the underserved areas fail science classes and half of it is just the vocabulary. So I was able to provide a project having this cultural sense in mind, and knowing that they needed to learn from scratch and so that's what the Disney Conservation Fund allowed us to do and they give us on leeway to reach out to scientists like you guys in the water institute, like Sam, and say how can we put this information to the hands of the kids. And definitely Water Wizards was a way to start diving in. And then we made adaptations for the type of youth that we were serving.
Sam Sandoval
And Claudia, I think you also did the same kind of community engagement with this project in terms of bringing them, I think it was a watershed of one of the Santa Ana places when you were actually working with the children in watershed and you received some interesting comments from the Santa Ana Water Authority. Could you share that with us?
Claudia Diaz Carrasco
Yeah, definitely. You know, there was actually like a nonprofit that works here down in the area and they do like a water camp during the summer. Similar to Marianne, we just wanted to talk about the watershed, we wanted the kids to know that it was like right in the community. So when going to the Martha McLean Anza-Narrows Park which goes through one of the non-treated areas of the Santa Ana River. There were a bunch of kids that had gone to this state camp right there with entities and nonprofits put together. And I got there with my busses and we have like 80 young kids from urban Riverside and San Bernardino, most of them youth of color. And when I got there we were like, hey, can we share the river? You know, this is a public place? People were like, where these kids coming from and I'm like we all live here around the corner.
It was just definitely like one of these things about diversity where the kids were participating in a paid program that was completely different than the youth of color in my program. And so it was beautiful. They say, well, we tried to engage youth just like them but they never want to participate. And so I began getting into a conversation about how being culturally appropriate is important. You know, how about for Latino families? I mean, they are not going to sign up the kid to the camp. I was in a full bus because some tias were coming and primos and the family. It was for me really an opportunity to share with them that the Latino community is interested in water education. We do like outdoor recreation, we do like being in nature, but sometimes organizations fail to have the internal expertise to truly understand what will be the most appropriate way to bring this population. And so I think that just increased my passion for working in water conservation and for me as an extension advisor being the bridge. I know there is organizations that had great scientists, but they had no clue how to engage the community, right? And that was for me so meaningful, participating with you guys in the podcast because we are meant to be that bridge. Another is like the science shouldn't be a barrier to teach water conservation. The culture shouldn't be ever to teach water conservation. We are all Californians and so we all need to work together for everybody to receive the message.
Marianne Bird
You know, the wow that kids get when they see something for the first time when they have an experience, to me, that's why I do my job. I mean, one of the things that all of the kids that take Water Wizards get to do is they have a field trip to the American River Water Education Center up here in Sacramento where they get to see Folsom Lake and see the American River and go places that are very close to them, but they oftentimes don't get to.
But the real wow for me is we have a grant through the county Department of Water Resources to be able to take kids to the Bay Delta model and to see the Pacific Ocean down in Sausalito. And we get to take two busloads of kids down there, we get enough money for that. And these kids, you know, just watching them at the ocean and the whole effective learning that takes place. Just being there. You know, it's just fabulous. I mean, it's one thing to learn from books, but it's really another thing to learn from experience. And I think in 4-H, that's really what we try to do is to help young people not just to understand with their heads, but when people get to actually experience water in these different contexts, they get to learn not just with their heads, but also with their hearts.
Mallika Nocco
I was just reflecting on this idea that it takes a certain kind of approach to encourage participation from communities that haven't participated in the past. And I know that for me growing up when I thought of 4-H, I thought of a very rural feel, and taking care of animals and growing a prize winning tomato or something. And I was curious if that type of perception existed in some of the communities or if they had knowledge of 4-H or what kind of strategies did you use to introduce the organization to these communities?
Claudia Diaz Carrasco
Yeah, definitely I can speak to it and I think Marianne can also offer her perspective. So again, just my story of how I came to be an advisor. You know, I was born and raised in Mexico City, I didn't even know that extension advisor was a profession, right. But I was always passionate about using science to improve the lives of people. I think we the Latino community that didn't know about 4-H when I was new, for me was not really about like, you know, like any other organization, like putting the brand out there, you know, like, it was not to make a marketing campaign of letting people know, but it was really about understanding the needs of that community. You know, of course, what's convenient for me that people wanted to come and participate in 4-H and just in terms of outreach or meeting goals for our organization. But you know, I really wanted, like any good extension agent, to understand what's going on there. If we have the river just like two or three miles out in the community, why are people going or not going there.
It was really by getting closer to the parents that sometimes they speak English and sometimes I speak a Spanish and I'm like hey why don't you let the kids go to the river and then they will tell me the water is polluted or we don't go there because the police might be there, we have been there and the people haven't treated us well or they always want us to be out. And so was for me really understanding people are interested, but we organizations, we who are supposed to be opening our doors, we don't know how to do this. I can totally see especially when we're doing water testing how this water is like super acidic, right? Why it is not fit for kids to go and swim there. But the family doesn't know this. But I love what Marianne said. What families get is the first experience -- will they treat me well? Will they yell at me, will they yell at me in a language I don't even understand. A park ranger can totally do this, you know, trying to make the kids safe. It could be good intentions, just you know, like this is not appropriate water, but how the message is delivered matters.
You know, I give webinars around these culturally appropriate, I'm happy to follow up. I don't want to take much time right here. But I think the question is, like, how do you know about the community? I think 4-H, that's a good thing. It's about like, helping kids learn whatever they are interested in, and then getting volunteers and families together for the sake of the youth, so I don't see a challenge when people don't know about 4-H or the, you know, when people have the same vision you were sharing about cows and farming and I was like, yeah, it is, but we also do water education, and we also do leadership, right? So it's always like the adding and this mentality of how else we can contribute to what we have in front of us.
Marianne Bird
Well, I wanted to say to that in some communities, I think that what Mallika was saying about you know, the stereotype that people have of 4-H is really true. But in some communities we're all they've known is 4-H as water education or 4-H as a chance for their kids to be able to learn more about the natural world, they don't even know sometimes that we have a club program and that we have kids that are raising animals. So I think that they are surprised when they do traditional 4-H conference like the state leadership conference and all of a sudden they see that there 4-H world is much bigger than what they had experienced.
Mallika Nocco
There's so many avenues that you can use to engage youth and communities, growing food, trees, recreation forests -- what made the two of you decide to choose water specifically?
Marianne Bird
I didn't choose water, water chose me. You know, like a lot of us. I mean, when I was first asked to take this, it was a small amount of money, it was $15,000 to create some sort of program. They had a very little amount of money for very large aspirations, like serve 500 underrepresented youth, do water testing as a part of it. I mean, there was a long laundry list. So at first I said no, and then they came back to me and I said, yes, and I knew nothing. I really knew very, very little about water at the time. And I have learned so much about it. And now what I appreciate because my awareness has been heightened, is just it is always in the news. It doesn't matter if it's drought, if it's flooding, if it's tunnels, if it's salmon, if it's restoration, it's such a critical part of our economy and these young people that we're working with, these are our future decision makers, the voters and also the problem solvers that are going to help us navigate. So it's important for them not just to understand it, but to value it.
And in my case, I mean, it was wonderful. I love being in the outdoors, I love backpacking and all of that. I want a generation that really understands that they are the future stewards of this planet. And water is central to that. And, you know, especially for our kids and population in urban environments, there's a greater disconnect there. And so helping them to know and to understand, as I said, not only with their head but with their heart, and to be committed to action, whether that's turning off the faucet when they're brushing their teeth, or working to help legislation get passed for something that they feel is important. I think that that's the goal.
Claudia Diaz Carrasco
Thank you so much, Marianne, that was beautiful. I think for me when I moved to California after graduate school, and I remember water is one the strategic initiatives in our division right and I would hear about it and I remember for the first year similar to you Mallika, I was traveling across the state. I remember in the South Coast Research Center here in Irvine seeing some displays about how your front lawn yard needed to be adapted to be drought tolerant, so this drought stuck in my brain and I was like they're always talking about this. I get it's important, but I grew up in the city down in Mexico where we always have like a rainy season, right? There were these three malls where the streets flood with water.
When I got here, I was just like, well, they say there's drought and I mentally understand it, but I think is like Marianne is well pointing out, it's about a change of heart. It wasn't until a year that I've been here in Southern California and one day I was running after work and then I see some droplets and it was like a three minute rain and it was over. And I was like, I've been living here for a whole year and I've seen a millimeter of inch of water in Southern California right? And so I think for me that was the moment that hit me and say like these matters. You know people need to know because I mean I'm a scientist and I scientifically knew that this was a topic that in Southern California I'll be working on but until I say wow, this is different and you know, as Marianne is saying, this is going to affect future generations. We need to be making right decisions now.
That's why one of the first projects that I did with our communities was, thank you Disney Conversation Fund, go and figure out how this is impacting our life. And so I did it and I was looking ahead. As you're saying, inside the organization, good mentors are our water experts that want to spread the message and then we're happy to collaborate with us. You know, there are like non Water Wizards. We're just like, educators, but that are passionate about like passing the message in the appropriate ways.
Sam Sandoval
For both of you, what would you like those of us outside of the 4-H want to know about what you do? And how can we support you?
Claudia Diaz Carrasco
Those are great questions. I think, you know, we have different ideas in the podcast, but it is what I say like just reach your county agent. I always tell people, 4-H is delivered to volunteers, right? I'm one person in an area that covers 5 million people, right? So I'm blessed to have an army of 500 volunteers that are out there in the community centers, in schools, that after school staff that is being trained, it's an army and so I tell people, you have something to teach the youth. When I tell one of the moms like you know how to make salsa, do you want I want to teach salsa to this kids? Or you know, whether like I go to Sam and say you know how water really works, can you come and do a 30 minute kids talk about this, right?
So it's just having in mind that they all have something to contribute to other youth and then if they reach out to the office for sure we'll find a job for them, right. And so just like wander around the county website with 4-H. 4-H.org has a national thing that you put your zip code and they find a club near you. So don't be afraid. And I tell them I can do like a thing that's half an hour once a year or something that takes over your life. So, definitely a world of opportunities to contribute.
Marianne Bird
And I just want to add to what Claudia saying. I think if there was something I would like, it would be being able to have closer connections and partnerships, and to be seen. For 4-H to be seen as a valuable part of what we're doing in terms of community education and solving community problems and that I could be seen as a vector to help to make that happen.
Mallika Nocco
Wow. Well, I really appreciate that answer. I think that you had one partner with Sam and now you have one with me and the community. And we see you and hopefully this is going to be a platform for others across the different science and policy communities to see 4-H for the army that it is.
Sam Sandoval
And I can say that I encourage everyone to join forces with 4-H, it is really fun.
Mallika Nocco
Thanks for listening and join us next time on Water Talk.