Livin La Vida Verde

by Jen Sotolongor

Nestled in a wilderness retreat center an hour south of San Francisco, Vida Verde is an organization that gives students the chance to learn outside of the classroom.  The non-profit educational center provides free, overnight environmental learning experiences for students who might not otherwise have the opportunity.  After serving with Teach for America at low-income schools in the Mississippi Delta area, Vida Verde founders Laura Dickerson and Shawn Sears quickly realized that their students did not learn well only by sitting in the classroom with books as their learning tools. "Students lack exposure when their parents don't have a car to take them to see things, and this makes them feel separated from what they're learning in the classroom," said Shawn, Director and Instructor for Vida Verde. "In Teach for America, we both had a big realization that these kids weren't get- ting a fair shot at education and that certain models were used with students unsuccessfully." Laura and Shawn began taking their students out on field trips so they could apply the lessons they were learning in class to real life. "It wasn't until we got out on those field trips that we saw they were excited and were working together as a class," said Shawn. Laura and Shawn had no resources - financial or administrative - to take their students on field trips. The staff at the schools did not have the time or energy to draw up permission slips or gather food for the trips. This experience inspired the idea behind Vida Verde.

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"My favorite experience was milking the goat because at first I was really scared, but then everyone convinced me to do it", -Joseline Diaz

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