By Jessica Blundell | Grants Manager
Thank you for supporting Vida Verde during the last school year! Each year, Vida Verde’s overarching goals are to improve:
ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE: All VV lessons and activities are linked to the California Common Core Standards, and the Next Generation Science Standards. With a strong focus on teamwork and group process, VV attends to the collaborative meaning-making standards in the Common Core, and the NextGen focus on collaboration as an important scientific practice and mindset. Our lessons bring to life academic learning from the classroom, and facilitate academic engagement back at school.
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING: Low-income children often face stressors like poverty and violence. VV includes social emotional learning that has a positive impact on focus, attention, self-regulation, and academic engagement. The social-emotional well-being of students improves quickly during a VV trip, with teachers and parents noting the long-term impacts on self-confidence, collaboration, and persistence.
ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS & CONNECTION TO NATURE: First-time, positive connections to nature occur constantly during the VV experience. We engage youth as environmental stewards and inspire them to take ownership and responsibility for the natural world. VV intentionally introduces students to a wealth of public parks and beaches, and teaches them that these places are theirs to enjoy and to care for, with the hope that students will return to the natural world - as a source of inspiration, rejuvenation, and joy - again and again.
In order to track progress toward these goals each classroom teacher completes a survey 4-6 weeks after their class attends Vida Verde. The survey includes items that address our goal to positively impact the academic performance, social emotional learning, and environmental awareness and connections to nature. Our goal is that 75% or more of teachers will identify Vida Verde as having a meaningful or exceptionally meaningful impact on four of the six of the following categories. The results from the 2025-26 school year demonstrate that Vida Verde had a meaningful or exceptionally meaningful impact on:
We also seek qualitative feedback from our teachers and students, which helps to illustrate the quantitative data. Highlights from the 2024-25 school year include:
"Vida Verde is important for growth, exploration, and building community amongst peers and teachers. At his program helps tap into embracing the unknown of nature and it's impact on us, cementing core memories for all those who attend." - teacher, Lighthouse Charter "
Over the 21 years of bringing students to Vida Verde, the mission remains a constant; to provide Nature opportunities these beautiful souls deserve but to also create a safe place to trust themselves to receive not only Nature's gifts, but those of self-love and realization of what is accessible and possible." - teacher, East Oakland Pride
"Vida Verde is out of this world! But really, it is what our world should be like every single day for every single body. This was an epic fist time for most of my students and I am so excited they were able to have a taste of what life is truly about: nature, compassion, generosity, curiosity, respect, FUN, and above all LOVE!" - teacher, Costaño
"Vida Verde gave all the students an opportunity to try new things, make new friends, and build their bravery and self-confidence. Students learn to rely on the support of their community in order to tap into their bravest selves. Vida Verde is a trip every student remembers--when students come back to visit me 1, 10, or even 15 years later, one of the first things they always ask is, "Do you still go on a trip to Vida Verde?" - teacher, Think College Now
"In a world filled with social media and negativity, it was a breath of fresh air to watch our students unplug, become one with their environment, and see the positivity in people and nature around them." - teacher, Aptitud
"This experience for students is like no other. It is a true and genuine learning opportunity that connects some classroom content to the real and natural world. More importantly, it offers students who were born into a highly digital and technological world a chance to disconnect and discover the interesting and exciting aspects of the environments around them. Finally, it provides endless opportunities to challenge the students’ problem solving skills, expand their curiosity, increase their independence and interdependence between classmates and friends, and discover their courage!" - teacher, Los Robles-Ronald McNair
"Vida Verde might be the only chance some of these students get to go camping and be surrounded by nature. Having the students unplug and separate themselves from technology was wonderful. The amount of time some of them spend on their phones and apps is unhealthy, and I’m not sure how good they are at doing things without having their phones nearby. They were able to just live in the moment while building community with each other. The instructors are kind but firm, and always show respect to the students. The students are encouraged to be kind to one another and to all of the adults at the camp. It was also a great experience for the teachers to bond with students in a setting in which there is much less power dynamics and both parties can let their guards down and get to know each other more as people." - teacher, Hillside
"Vida Verde is hands down one of the best outdoor ed camps out there. They have a very strong, supportive staff that work very well with students. They engage kids with kids firmly but with kindness and heart. They include all kinds of fun activitiesnfir students to experience and try new things. They include positive risk taking and be able to be kids with no cell phones and learn how to play." - teacher, United for Success
"All-inclusive, positive, engaging, and active is what I think about after leaving this trip. These kids have done many things for the first time in their lives and I know it got rid of that fear for them to take a step forward into the unknown. This camp teaches many different lessons and life skills very much applicable to our everyday lives. I’m grateful our students and staff got to take part in this and I encourage everyone to do so if they get the opportunity. Positivity and Teamwork, thank you Vida Verde." - teacher, ACE Empower
"I love watching our students transform over time to confident, courageous individuals who begin to try new things and encourage each other through new experiences. The three days we are at Vida Verde are so powerful. This is my third year chaperoning and I hope to come for many more years." - teacher, Cesar Chavez Elementary
"Vida Verde was an amazing experience for our students that can’t be replicated in a traditional classroom. Students tried new things, overcame challenges, and got to bond with each other in a beautiful natural setting. I appreciated the way camp counselors gently encouraged students to interact respectfully with nature and each other. I can’t wait for more students to get to experience this space." - teacher, KIPP Excelencia Community Prep
"V.V. Give kids a unique opportunity to learn and connect with an environment that they wouldn’t necessarily have. The space created here strengthens their imagination, curiosity and understanding of how the world works and operates while enjoying the outside and forgetting that they are learning while having fun." - teacher, Belle Haven
"Our students are incredibly lucky to have participated in the Vida Verde Educational program. As inner-city students, many of them had never been camping, to the redwoods or spent time in nature like this. They were nervous but the staff did an incredible job encouraging them and keeping them busy. Despite the rainy weather, students were in high spirits and many overcame fears and tried new things. I am very grateful for the staff and supporters of Vide Verde for creating an environment to broaden the worldview of our students. They are better people for it!" - teacher, CCPA
"This experience was one of a kind for camping in our beautiful redwoods! It was my first experience seeing a goat being milked and my first experience sleeping in a tent with a rambunctious group of 5th grade boys! Being a nurse on this experience was phenomenal. Not only was it fun to watch my student with medical needs thrive and grow as a camper, but he also thrived and grew in self advocacy and education to his peers. I am very proud of our students learning and challenging themselves in a setting that is very different from home. I know many of them will return to camping and many of them verbalized they would love to return to vida verde. Thank you for sharing your site with us, we are fortunate to have this partnership. I look forward to returning to vida verde with the next group of students." - a nurse who attended camp with a student with a medical disability
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