For many fourth graders visiting Rancho Sierra Vista/Satwiwa (Chumash for “the bluffs”), in the Santa Monica Mountains, a day in the park is more than a field trip.
It may be the first time they have hiked a trail. The first time they have seen a rattlesnake. The first time they have felt connected to a place larger than themselves.
For former Education Technicians Rod Fortiz (he/him) and Rai Young (they/them), helping create those moments was both a privilege and a responsibility.
One of Rod’s most memorable experiences wasn’t teaching a lesson about plants or wildlife. It was simply pronouncing a student’s name correctly.
“No one’s ever pronounced my name right on the first try,” the student told him.
The moment stayed with Rod.
“Just knowing a kid’s name and pronouncing it right helps them feel like they belong,” he said. “They’re more inclined to participate and learn because they feel at home.”
“It feels like an honor to be part of a child’s first real outdoor experience,” they said.
For Rai, the memorable moments often happened on the trail.
Many students arrive nervous about being outdoors, especially when they hear there might be rattlesnakes in the area. Yet after seeing one safely from a distance and learning about its role in the ecosystem, fear often turns into fascination.
“The ones who are most scared of rattlesnakes are often the ones who want to see another one,” Rai said with a laugh.
Watching that transformation never got old.
“It feels like an honor to be part of a child’s first real outdoor experience,” they said.
Those experiences changed Rod and Rai as much as they changed the students they taught.
Both found their way to outdoor education through unexpected paths.
Rod discovered the outdoors during a period of personal growth and reflection. Spending time outside helped him reconnect with himself and sparked a desire to create similar opportunities for others. What began as a personal journey eventually led him to SAMO Youth, where he discovered how access to nature can change the course of a life.
“Nature is the greatest teacher,” he said.
The outdoors becomes a classroom where children learn not only about ecosystems, but about themselves and one another.
When discussing the Chumash people, for example, Rod encouraged students to think about their own families, languages, traditions, and stories. Students began to understand that Indigenous communities are not people of the past, but living cultures with experiences that connect to their own. What began as a lesson about history became a lesson about empathy and shared humanity.
Rai began their journey studying art before discovering environmental science. Today, they see the two disciplines as deeply connected.
“Art and science are lovers or best friends,” they said. “The best way to help people understand science is often through storytelling.”
That belief shaped the way they engaged young learners in the mountains.
Helping people understand the natural world requires more than facts. It requires connection.
Rai helped students discover those connections for themselves, guiding them from familiar ideas toward larger concepts about ecology, stewardship, and belonging.
Through an interpretive teaching technique known as “scaffolding,” students connect not only with nature, but also with themselves. Beginning with simple questions before exploring larger ideas about community, culture, history, and belonging, lessons about wildlife and native plants become conversations about empathy, stewardship, and our shared connection to the natural world.
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Both educators believe the impact of these experiences extends far beyond a single day outdoors.
A child who has never hiked before may discover a lifelong love of nature. A student who never imagined a career in science may begin to see new possibilities. A young person who feels disconnected may discover a place where they belong.
“Your support preserves the land we all love,” Rod said when asked what he would want the SAMO Fund community to know. “But it also changes lives.”
Rai agrees.
Following many programs, students write letters describing their experiences. Some share stories about seeing wildlife for the first time. Others write personal notes to the educators who guided them through the day.
Those letters are a reminder that outdoor education and the experience it provides outdoors can have a lasting impact.
>Learn more about Open Outdoors here!