How Splash helps Sacramento-area students explore science, nature beyond class
Tucked next to Mather Field and a housing development is a building adorned with murals of flowers and wildlife.
Inside are dozens of animals native to Sacramento, and behind the building lie endangered habitats many Sacramentans have never heard of.
Splash, a nonprofit organization founded in 1999, works with cities and school districts to teach kids about science through hands-on lessons and field trips.
Splash’s main program is a 13-lesson science curriculum that teaches students about Sacramento’s unique ecosystem, the invertebrates found in vernal pools, watersheds and water pollution, CEO Mackenzie Wieser said.
Vernal pools are “temporary wetlands that come up in grassland areas, mostly undeveloped areas,” Wieser said. “Most in California have been developed over.”
Wieser estimated that just 7% of the state’s natural vernal pools remain because of urban development.
However, some vernal pools can still be found at Mather Field, typically from January through late April, Wieser said. Some parts of the former Mather Air Force Base were never developed, allowing the vernal pools to survive.
Sacramento-area fourth- and fifth-grade teachers who participate in Splash’s vernal pools program receive the curriculum from the organization. The lesson plan culminates in a springtime visit to the Splash Education Center at 4426 Excelsior Road and the vernal pools behind the center at Mather Field.
Students also visit the center’s “Critterville,” a zoo featuring animals found in the Sacramento region. There, students can see animals including snakes, axolotls, tiger salamanders, turtles, toads, frogs, tarantulas, millipedes, bunnies and owls, Wieser said.
Splash also hosts a program in collaboration with the Sacramento Area Sewer District called Project AWE, which stands for agriculture, water, energy and the environment. The program takes students to the more than 130-year-old Nicolaus Dairy farm in Elk Grove and teaches them about food production. Students can also see goats, chickens and turkeys at the farm, Wieser said.
For the past five years, the organization has also hosted a free youth environmental leadership summer camp for 60 sixth- and seventh-grade students. The camp takes students on field trips around the region to see scientists at work and learn about climate change, energy, water, food production and land use, Wieser said.
Participants are required to volunteer for another environmental organization and raise at least $40 for an environmental or animal nonprofit in the Sacramento area.
“The purpose is to try to teach them early on that civic involvement and engagement is critical to making change and being the change that you want to see,” Wieser said.
Wieser first discovered the organization during a field trip in 2017 and said she was amazed by how engaged and curious the students were.
“It was rainy and no one cared, because they just loved to be outside,” Wieser said. “On this field trip, they could just be kids exploring.”
At the time, Wieser worked as an appointee to former Gov. Jerry Brown on climate policy and served as a planning commissioner for the city of Elk Grove.
While she felt the work she was doing was important, she said she wanted to be more involved in the community and spend less time working on policy.
“If I can go inspire the next generation to care just a little bit more or get involved or get into a science career, then that would be so much more legacy building,” Wieser said.
Wieser said she reached out to the organization and learned that the founder, Eva Butler, was retiring.
“It was very serendipitous,” Wieser said. “That was where I was supposed to be.”
The organization works with 14 school districts in the Sacramento area and receives most of its funding from cities, Wieser said, allowing students to attend field trips for free. But with many municipalities facing budget deficits, Wieser said everyone is “feeling a pinch.”
Nevertheless, Wieser said her goal is to expand Splash’s programs to help more children succeed, particularly as technology use increases and children spend less time outdoors.
“I’m getting more inspired to do more to help the next generation,” Wieser said. “It’s for the kids. It’s all for the kids.”
