East Palo Alto Charter School Students Complete Yearlong Baylands Project with Presentation to City Council Members

Their Final Decision: Produce a Field Guide

Press Contact:

The Decision Education Foundation
Betty Skov
betty@decisioneducation.org
650-704-6641

East Palo Alto, Calif. – April 17, 2008 – Today, fifth graders from Katie Kling’s class at East Palo Alto Charter School (an Aspire public school) are presenting the results of a Baylands environmental study to members of the Palo Alto and East Palo Alto city councils, Aspire board members and interested local educators.

Under the guidance of Ken Clarkson and Mark Batchelor from the Nature Studies Program at the Riekes Center for Human Enhancement, a non-profit youth enrichment program based in Menlo Park, the students used a process called “cyber-tracking” to collect species data and record it on donated Palm® Pilot™ PDAs.

The students then worked with Meg Barrager, a program director at Palo Alto-based Decision Education Foundation (DEF), a non-profit dedicated to teaching young people how to make good decisions. Their challenge was to decide what they could do to protect this fragile area and create more public awareness of its natural treasures.

Meg helped the students create a simplified adaptation of a “Decision Tree,” a graphic tool widely used by decision scientists. They learned to take into account their personal values, the information they had gathered, what alternatives they could propose and possible outcomes.

The ultimate decision was to create a field guide to share with Baylands visitors. “The kids were incredible,” says Meg. “They came up with all kinds of possible outcomes and grasped the complexity of the decision process. Now they’re ready to share their knowledge and enthusiasm with the broader community.”

About DEF:  The Decision Education Foundation (DEF) was founded in 2001 to promote, enable and support the development of good decision skills by today’s youth. The foundation develops classroom-ready materials and works with select schools and youth organizations, training teachers interested in making decision education a part of their curricula. http://www.decisioneducation.org.

About the Riekes Center: The Riekes Center for Human Enhancement is a nonprofit mentoring organization that utilizes a multidisciplinary approach to provide students the resources and opportunity for the joy of self-enhancement. The Center’s programs combine technology with training and offer total support to students, helping each individual develop valuable skills, self-reliance and self-esteem through a dedicated respect for themselves and for each other. http://www.riekes.org.

(Note to journalists: Photos of the children working on various aspects of the project are available from DEF. In addition, a short video will be available in early June.)