Mission
Environmental Volunteers? mission is to promote the understanding of and responsibility for the environment, through hands-on science education.
Founded in 1972, the EV serves 10,000 young students each year in K-8 classrooms in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.
Many teachers say they do not feel adequately prepared to teach their students science. According to the 2005 National Assessment of Education Progress, California ranked 48th of all states for 4th graders tested in science. Two 2007 studies?from the Center on Education Policy in Washington, D.C. and a UC-Berkeley study of Bay Area elementary schools? indicated that a diminishing amount of time has been spent on science education since the enactment of No Child Left Behind. The Bay Area study revealed that 80% of multi-subject K-5th grade teachers spend only 60 minutes or less per week on science, and 16% spend no time on science at all. In low-income communities, the lack of equity, resources, and opportunity make the situation considerably worse.
The work of the EV counters the insufficiency of science education in our schools. As a result, our programs are regularly over-subscribed, resulting in long waiting lists. The entire year of available EV services?350 classroom and 150 field trip services?will be booked within the first few hours of our annual registration day.