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This
document describes the Hispanic component of the Monterey Bay National
Marine Sanctuary's Multicultural Education Plan, a multi-agency
collaboration to expand marine conservation education and outreach
efforts to local Hispanic communities.
Areas of
Focus and Program Goals
The Hispanic population of the central California coast is one
of the largest and fastest-growing constituencies of the Monterey
Bay National Marine Sanctuary, but is poorly reached by current
Sanctuary outreach and resource threat reduction programs. This
Multicultural Education Plan, known as "MERITO" (Multicultural
Education for Resource Issues Threatening Oceans), has been designed
in partnership with the local Hispanic community to provide expanded
bilingual ocean and conservation-related outreach programs to
Hispanic students, teachers, adults and families living near the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Monterey
Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS). Through enhanced knowledge
of the Sanctuary and its associated watersheds, our diverse citizens
will better understand the importance of protecting our resources
and their special qualities. The Multicultural Education Plan
includes three areas of focus:
- 1. A Professional Development Program for Hispanic teachers,
undergraduate and graduate level students, to include the production
of a set of universal, Spanish-language bilingual curricula
and materials that can be utilized by other National Marine
Sanctuaries, and beyond,
- 2. A Site-Based Bilingual Ocean Outreach Program for Hispanic
youth and families in conjunction with California State Parks,
National Estuarine Research Reserves and other partners, and
- 3. A Community-Based Bilingual Ocean Outreach Program for
Hispanic youth, families, and migrant farm workers.
Process
and Products
The MERITO (Spanish meaning is merit or worth) Plan was built
in a systematic manner over a three-month period of information
exchange with over thirty local groups that work with or within
the Hispanic community. Through these meetings, the MBNMS has
worked with Hispanic representatives to 1) identify the critical
gaps and "areas of need" (summarized in Appendix A.), 2) plan
a series of partnership projects that address Hispanic community
needs and build upon successful existing community programs, and
3) develop strategies for implementing and evaluating the partnership
projects.
This plan will utilize a multi-level approach in order to reach
young children, youth, families and adults in a variety of different
ways. It will provide a variety of program offerings throughout
the year targeting various groups within the Hispanic community.
For example, a collaborative project with the Monterey County
Office of Education Migrant Education Centers will provide educational
materials and instruction for school age Hispanic children and
presentations for their parents. A partnership with the city of
Salinas will provide field trip preparation and instruction for
an "at-risk" youth program. At the same time, community events
planned in cooperation with some of the major agricultural growers
would attract participation by migrant workers and their families.
This approach will optimize a vital component in effective education
and outreach -- the ability to develop and nurture long-term relationships.
We are confident that a multi-pronged approach to public education
will help us to build and sustain strong community relationships.
The strength of this plan is that the MBNMS will be the hub for
a long-term, multi-faceted collaborative program that is a product
of the community, for the community. Local Hispanic organizations
will continue to provide their services to the community, but
the Sanctuary will help generate the people power and funding
required to expand existing efforts and to initiate new programs.
The plan will reflect the specific needs of our Hispanic community
and in doing so will help to catalyze necessary support from other
agencies in the area. Twenty federal and state agencies, universities,
and private groups are already onboard to support efforts described
in this plan. Through this program, the MBNMS will be able to
effectively address resource threat reduction in the context of
the needs of the Hispanic communities.
It is important to realize that through it's Multicultural Education
Plan, the MBNMS will be in a better position to serve its entire
constituency during the process of the review and revision of
the MBNMS Management Plan. Since over 40% of Monterey County's
population is Hispanic, it is evident that the Sanctuary needs
to focus on constituent-building activities within the Hispanic
community. This plan will help to facilitate communication between
managers, educators, and the general public. Timely and pertinent
information will be exchanged between all parties through the
expanded outreach and education efforts. In addition, this plan
requires integration and exchange across all departments within
the Sanctuary office. The education programs will link Hispanic
students and teachers to research tools and information such as
Geographic Information Systems and link migrant farm workers to
vital resource protection information developed within the Sanctuary's
Water Quality Protection Program Agricultural Plan.
The Multicultural Education Plan has been designed to serve as
a collaborative network long into the future and will have a phased
approach with periodic external evaluation and review. The first
phase of the collaborative plan will include implementation of
a number of local pilot projects instituting the various plan
components (proposed to begin in 2001). A second phase of expanded
programming will incorporate international efforts with Baja California
and Mexico, with three following years needed for full-scale implementation
throughout the Sanctuary and with other regional partners.
Areas of
Need
Informational meetings with over thirty Hispanic agencies and
organizations have resulted in a list of critical needs that must
be addressed in order for the MBNMS to provide effective multicultural
education. The needs were evaluated and grouped into common themes:
- Outreach Instruction - provide bilingual education staff for
in-school and community-based programs that focus on Sanctuary-related
and conservation programs,
- Outreach Materials - provide bilingual lesson plans, posters,
kits and other educational materials for in-class, after-school,
and community-based programs,
- Professional Development - provide science enrichment opportunities
to pre-service and in-service Hispanic teachers (and those teaching
Hispanic students), as well as supplemental lesson plans, teacher
kits, and other materials for more effective classroom lessons
and field activities,
- Field Trip Instruction - provide bilingual education staff
to lead field activities,
- Field Trip Transportation - provide vehicles or funding for
vehicles to transport groups to field trip site,
- Student Internships - provide paid-internship opportunities
for Hispanic students,
- Community Event Support - provide hands-on activities and
other resources (food, music) to support various Hispanic community
events,
- Conference Support - attend career fairs, coordinate and host
field trip enrichment activities,
- Job Shadowing & Mentorship - provide opportunities for
Hispanic high school and undergraduate students to follow marine
professionals for a day, and
- In-kind Support - provide science lab equipment, supplies,
computers, etc. to support school and college programs.
- It is the intent of the plan that existing efforts will be
enhanced and new programs initiated in the context of the areas
of need.
Program
Recommendations
- Professional Development Program - Regional colleges and universities
provide teacher credential programs for new teachers, and graduate
level programs for in-service teachers. Working with colleges
and universities, the MERITO Plan will provide avenues for professional
development that will not only take Hispanic-serving teachers
into the marine environment to acquire hands-on experience,
but also bring researchers out of the laboratory and into dialogue
for a direct transfer of knowledge to teachers. The intended
outcome is that teachers will multiply these experiences through
their students over many years. Updating and training new and
veteran teachers is a long-term process requiring a sustained
effort and repetitive programs to assure impact on the greatest
number of teachers and students.
In addition, through the MERITO Plan's Professional Development
Program, scholarships will provide job experience and internship
opportunities for Hispanic undergraduate and graduate level
students. Interns will work with water quality specialists,
educators, and GIS technicians at the Sanctuary office to enhance
their own science and technology skills while producing valuable
resources and products for the MBNMS and the MERITO Plan.
The goal of producing a set of universal, Spanish-language bilingual
curricula and materials, to be utilized by other National Marine
Sanctuaries and beyond, is included as an overarching goal.
All deliverables will be crafted in cooperation with MERITO
partnership organizations and will fulfill the needs expressed
in Appendix 1.
Of the thirty groups surveyed, seventeen requested bilingual
curricula and resource materials. When asked for more specific
information, groups expressed the need for marine and coastal
information and curricula that reflect a multidisciplinary knowledge
base as well as a focus on issues important to local communities
and ecosystems. In addition, other communication technologies
will be explored such as CD ROM and interactive video, which
will enable the MERITO Plan programs to produce materials of
greater depth to the active learner.
- Site-Based Bilingual Ocean Outreach Program -- Effective on-site
(outdoor) education is fundamental to resource protection and
conservation. Gaining an understanding of how the local Hispanic
communities interact with and utilize the Sanctuary is the first
step to effective resource protection and integral to the success
of the Multicultural Education Plan. For example, we know from
observation that pier and onshore fishing and family visits
to the beach are some ways that Hispanic residents enjoy the
rich diversity of the Sanctuary. Many of these coastal visitation
sites fall under the jurisdiction of other governmental agencies,
such as California State Parks. By collaborating with these
agencies, we will both increase our understanding of how Hispanic
audiences utilize coastal areas and more effectively reach the
Hispanic public. Thus, the first goal of the MERITO Plan's Site-Based
Bilingual Ocean Outreach Program will be to work closely with
two of our closest regional partners, the Elkhorn Slough National
Estuarine Research Reserve and California State Parks, Monterey
County District, to provide bilingual staff and programs dedicated
to Hispanic visitors.
- Community-Based Bilingual Ocean Outreach Program -- The most
successful and long-term approach to expanding marine outreach
to Hispanic youth and their families is to partner with already
existing Hispanic-serving organizations. Many successful and
sustainable "community-based" programs exist in this region,
including after-school programs, in-school Head Start and Migrant
Education programs, and ethnically diverse youth groups, to
name a few. MERITO details a variety of educational partnerships
with the above groups. MERITO also describes the need for partnerships
with the agricultural industry, which employs predominantly
Hispanic migrant workers. This program component explores ways
that the Sanctuary can work with community groups and industry
to provide marine conservation education and outreach opportunities.
Conclusions
The MBNMS Multicultural Education Plan will be a multi-agency,
long-term collaborative program that utilizes a multi-level approach
to expand and improve outreach and education to local Hispanic
communities. It will build upon and provide support for existing
education efforts and also initiate new programs that will enhance
understanding of our complex and important relationship with the
marine environment. The MERITO Plan will provide a set of tangible
Spanish-language education products and tools that can be utilized
by other National Marine Sanctuaries and beyond. This plan will
also facilitate critical communication between managers, educators
and the general public, mainly focusing on the Hispanic community.
Finally, NOAA's National Marine Sanctuary System is interested
in using the MBNMS Multicultural Education Plan as a model marine
conservation outreach and education program for other marine sanctuaries
nationwide.
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