OCDE’s Inside the Outdoors makes the most out of Earth Month with 27 community events

An Inside the Outdoors booth at an Earth Day Open House and Environmental FairYou probably know that April 22 is annually observed as Earth Day. But did you know the entire month of April is celebrated as Earth Month?

OCDE’s Inside the Outdoors program is certainly aware, and they’ve been making the most of it.  

In addition to coordinating hands-on science lessons for 10,000 students through field trips and its Traveling Scientist program, Inside the Outdoors has hosted 27 community events in April alone, promoting environmental education and stewardship.

A young girl paints a metal pail.
A young girl adds some color to a metal pail during the Disney VoluntEARS Family Earth Day Event at Inside the Outdoors’ Rancho Soñado site.

Of course they got some help along the way. Employees from Disney, Wells Fargo, Western Digital and other high-profile partners donated hundreds of volunteer hours, creating family environmental awareness activity kits, contributing classroom resources and picking up trash at local beaches and parks.

Inside the Outdoors officials say they aligned this month’s activities to OCDE’s One Billion Acts of Kindness campaignEvents included several Earth Day fairs, made possible through partnerships with OC Waste and Recycling and the City of Newport Beach.

But it didn’t stop there.

The Disneyland Resort hosted high school students and teachers who won the Inside the Outdoors Foundation’s recent #Voice4Water video contest, while students from OCDE’s Tobacco-Use Prevention Education program helped clean up Mile Square Park. Others caught up with Inside the Outdoors at the Imaginology learning festival, which took place at the OC Fair & Events Center in Costa Mesa.

Earth Month may be coming to an end, but you can count on Inside the Outdoors to continue underscoring the importance of caring for the planet all year long.

In that sense, pretty much every month is Earth Month.

“During the school year, over 120,000 students, teachers, and families participate in Inside the Outdoors hands-on environmental science programs,” said Stacy Deeble-Reynolds, director of Community and Student Support Services at OCDE. “This allows them to gain the knowledge and skills needed to solve complex environmental issues.”