John Garcia Environmental Studies Center

In response to John Garcia's tragic death, an administrator in the Grant Joint Union High School District in Sacramento, CA asked a continuation high school construction class to build and place 18 wood duck nesting boxes along an area creek as a memorial to John. The positive response and enthusiasm these urban students showed provided the impetus for further development, thus the John Garcia Youth & Wildlife Project was born. The fact that the Project is named for a teenager helps create a deeper connection between our students and their future role and responsibilities.

Dedicated to creating opportunities for under-served urban area students to connect with the outdoors, this project seeks to increase students' awareness of their responsibilities as the future stewards of our remaining wild resources. They do this by generating funding that supports conservation-oriented school assemblies, classroom projects, and field trips for area schools grades K-12.

Equipped with indoor and outdoor learning centers, technology, instructional supplies, and a fully aligned environmental curriculum, the Garcia Center will permit schools from throughout the Sacramento area to participate in environmental study lessons that are linked to the California States Standards for Science. Additionally, the curriculum is intended to be interdisciplinary allowing the knowledge students gain to be used in other disciplines, such as English, Math, and Social Science.

Sustainable design principles were a significant factor in the design of this facility. Natural daylighting provides the perfect setting for learning within the center. Every element and feature of this center was designed to reinforce and reflect our societal responsibility to gently impact our environment. Starting with the construction and continuing through the daily use of this facility, the students will learn what it means to live in harmony with our environment. Specifically, this project is designed to reduce the ongoing maintenance costs of the facility through the use of concrete floors, cost-saving native stone exterior finishes, and super insulating living roofs that reduce the ongoing energy costs.

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