In collaboration with Pacific Shellfish Institute (PSI), South Sound Bird Alliance and Olympia Community Sailing (OCS), PEI hosted a bilingual community engagement event on June 4. The goal was to increase community engagement among Latino Heritage communities and the general public with local watersheds. Approximately 50 community members went sailing with OCS and an additional 33 people visited interactive booths to learn about watersheds and wildlife.
The day provided new experiences for many participants and a rare opportunity for members of the Latino Heritage to engage in outdoor activities designed for them. “Sailing was amazing,” one shared. “We have never been in a sailboat before.”
It was the culmination of a year of activities and workshops designed to increase access to natural spaces and build understanding of local watersheds among the Latino Heritage community, funded by a City of Olympia ‘Inspire Olympia’ grant. Overall, PEI and five community partners served 183 members of the general public and 24 Olympia and surrounding area educators. Through three bilingual community engagement events, we connected Olympia families and individuals with their local watersheds, provided dual language opportunities for sailing, and engaged them in watershed education focused on habitat, wildlife and environmental impacts.
“We were so excited to see a bilingual event in Olympia. We attend a dual language school. We hope there are more events like this one in the future.”
— Explora Budd participant
Participants identified their local watersheds on a map provided by the City of Olympia Water Resources. On the docks, PSI provided water collectors for children to collect and observe macrofauna through microscopes and later identify them on a chart. “We were so excited to see a bilingual event in Olympia,” one participant reported. “We attend a dual language school. We hope there are more events like this one in the future.”
Families who visited PEI’s scavenger hunt booth had an opportunity to explore rocks, birds, jellyfish and other aspects of the watershed. They also learned about the impact of pollution as it drains into Budd Bay through an interactive mode, and why it’s important to keep water clean. At the OCS booth, they learned knots and other sailing-related skills. Participants appreciated the event’s environmental focus. “I am a teacher, and I loved that you can demonstrate the watershed model to kids,” one said.
Statistically, communities of color within the United States are three times as likely to live in spaces that are ‘nature deprived’ than white communities. Members of Hispanic Heritage Communities disproportionately face socioeconomic barriers as well, including lack of time for those working multiple jobs and caring for households, lack of money for appropriate clothing and gear and lack of transportation to natural places such as trails.
Additionally, one of the biggest barriers for dual language teachers is a lack of teaching materials in Spanish, even when quality student content exists. Often, dual language teachers have to use their own time to translate curriculum or to look for resources in Spanish, whereas on the English side, the resources are already there. As a result, some teachers will take the path of least resistance and default to teaching in English.
PEI’s bilingual watershed workshops addressed this issue by providing resources and strategies in both English and Spanish and introducing Olympia educators to the dual language resources available through our website.
Thanks to the City of Olympia, Washington Department of Natural Resources, South Sound Bird Alliance, LOTT and Pacific Shellfish Institute for making this vision a reality. For more information about PEI’s Spanish-language resources, visit the resource directory on our website.
