How Excellence in Education Foundation Supports Sierra Watershed Education Partnerships Programs Across Truckee and North Lake Tahoe
The Excellence in Education Foundation provides grant funding to support hands-on environmental education programs led by Sierra Watershed Education Partnerships (SWEP). Through this ongoing partnership, Excellence in Education resources have helped fund field-based learning experiences, classroom instruction, large-scale environmental science events, winter ecology programs, wildfire prevention education, and educational materials for students across the Tahoe-Truckee region.
The programs are designed to connect students to local ecosystems while reinforcing science education, stewardship, and community responsibility through experiential service learning and real-world environmental challenges.
Forest Health Field Days: Stewardship in Action
One of the core programs supported by Excellence in Education is Forest Health Field Days (FHFD), a hands-on forest stewardship experience for middle school students. The program blends classroom learning with immersive field days focused on forest ecosystems, natural history, tree species identification, wildfire mitigation and conservation practices within the Tahoe National Forest.
Students participate in activities such as sugar pine re-vegetation projects, forest quality monitoring, orienteering, defensible space work, and exposing students to career pathways. Across participating schools, 200-300 students participate in Forest Health Field Days annually.
The program is supported through partnerships with Excellence in Education, the Sugar Pine Foundation, Tahoe Truckee Unified School District (TTUSD), the Tahoe Mountain Resorts Foundation, and the Truckee Donner Land Trust.
Science Festivals: Reaching Elementary Students at Scale
Excellence in Education has also supported SWEP’s Science Festivals, large-scale, hands-on science events designed for elementary students in grades K–5. These two-day assemblies bring interactive environmental and science stations directly to school campuses, encouraging curiosity, exploration, and scientific thinking.
These Science Festivals were delivered at elementary schools in Incline Village, Tahoe Lake, Kings Beach, Truckee, and Glenshire, reaching a total of 1,717 students. Excellence in Education provided $2,000 to support the purchase of supplies.
Defensible Space Stewardship Days: Wildfire Prevention Through Service Learning
Defensible Space Stewardship Days (DSSD) combines wildfire education with hands-on service projects and education. The program empowers students to learn about defensible space and wildfire prevention through classroom lessons, followed by hands-on fieldwork alongside Truckee Fire District and Wildfire Prevention professionals and volunteers.
During Stewardship Days, students work in teams to remove flammable vegetation and debris from school grounds and nearby properties of families in need.
Excellence in Education grant funding supports SWEP staff time for planning, instruction, and coordination of each Stewardship Day.
Winter Discovery Center: Learning in the Snow
Excellence in Education has also provided funding for SWEP’s Winter Discovery Center, an official SnowSchool site offering winter ecology and climate science education for local students.
Students learn about winter ecosystems, climate science, wildlife adaptations, and winter survival skills out of a yurt located at the Tahoe Cross Country Center.
Excellence in Education funding supports SWEP staff time, educational equipment such as stools, outdoor wildlife cameras, skis/XC gear, and more.
Educational Materials and Community Events: Forest Fire Books
As part of Fire Ready Truckee Tahoe and related school programming, SWEP distributes children’s books focused on wildfire education, including “Who Needs a Fire?” Excellence in Education grant funding allows SWEP to maintain and reorder book supplies for use in defensible space and forest stewardship programs throughout the school year.
Together, Excellence in Education and SWEP provide access to environmental education throughout the Tahoe-Truckee region, supporting programs that bring science to life, encourage stewardship, expose students to career pathways in science-related fields, and engage students in understanding and caring for their local environment.
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