Seeds to Solutions

For the first time, California teachers now have access to high-quality, free, California-specific instructional materials that empower students to become climate change solution seekers. These innovative materials, called Seeds to Solutions, are rapidly changing how environmental education is taught in the classroom — moving away from doom and gloom and toward solutions and hope.

Just one year ago, however, that wasn’t the case.

Fewer than half of teachers across grade levels felt prepared to teach about climate change. Students reported turning to social media for information about the topic. In an anonymous stakeholder interview, one parent said: “My children’s teachers would admit, the day the sky was orange from wildfire smoke, they didn’t know what to talk about.”

Meeting the demand for age-appropriate, solutions-oriented lessons is an important accomplishment. But it didn’t happen overnight. In fact, it is the culmination of years of behind-the-scenes work.

To learn from important progress like this, it helps to retrace the journey of the partnership that made it possible. The decade-long partnership between the San Mateo County Office of Education (SMCOE) and environmental literacy nonprofit Ten Strands offers a powerful blueprint: how an education agency and a non-governmental organization can transform education and prepare a generation that is inheriting a changing climate.

The spark: Next Generation Science Standards The genesis of this partnership began in 2014, when California was beginning to roll out its Next Generation Science Standards. Recognizing the potential to integrate environmental literacy into these new standards, Ten Strands sought a local education agency partner that shared its vision and possessed the capacity to reach teachers directly.

SMCOE stepped up to the plate. Our leadership understood the importance of connecting statewide educational frameworks with local environmental issues and resources. SMCOE served as a host and provided crucial support, contingent on Ten Strands bringing in the educators.

This initial collaboration blossomed into the first San Mateo Environmental Literacy Collaborative Institute. The response was promising: 90 teachers attended, eager to learn how to weave environmental topics and community partnerships into their science curricula.

The turnout was a strong indicator of educator demand and, critically, district support for environmental education. It demonstrated that teachers were hungry for resources and training that would enable them to prepare their students for a future increasingly shaped by environmental concerns. This early success solidified the foundation of trust and shared purpose between SMCOE and Ten Strands, setting the stage for more ambitious initiatives.

Institutionalizing environmental literacy Encouraged by the enthusiastic response, SMCOE made a bold and pioneering move in 2016 — we created California’s first environmental literacy coordinator position.

That single role gave the county the dedicated capacity to think systematically about environmental literacy — moving beyond individual lessons to encompass curriculum development, campus sustainability, community engagement, and fostering a culture of environmental stewardship within schools. It provided a centralized point of contact and expertise, allowing for coherent strategy and consistent implementation.

Today, San Diego, San Francisco, San Joaquin, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and Solano counties also have dedicated environmental literacy coordinators.

These coordinators form a vital network: the California Environmental Literacy Initiative (CAELI) COE Community of Practice, supported by Ten Strands. The network fosters peer learning, shares best practices, and amplifies the collective impact of environmental education efforts statewide. This exemplifies how a successful local initiative, nurtured through a strong agency-nonprofit partnership, could serve as a catalyst for broader change, influencing practice across an entire state.

SMCOE further institutionalized environmental literacy by bringing the environmental literacy coordinator role directly into the superintendent’s office. This institutional commitment demonstrated that environmental literacy is not an add-on, but rather an essential component of a well-rounded and future-focused education. It signaled to educators, parents, and the community that preparing students for climate change was a top priority for SMCOE.

Weathering a pandemic The adaptability of the SMCOE-Ten Strands partnership was tested during the unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. When schools were forced to grapple with remote learning, we saw an opportunity for both safe in-person instruction and environmental literacy through outdoor learning. SMCOE and Ten Strands teamed up with Green Schoolyards America and the renowned Lawrence Hall of Science to co-lead the National COVID-19 Outdoor Learning Initiative.

This initiative showcased the power of extending local innovation to a national stage. Recognizing the inherent benefits of outdoor spaces for both health and learning, the collaborators quickly mobilized. More than 200 dedicated volunteers contributed their time and expertise, creating a vast, free library of resources designed to help schools safely transition to outdoor instruction.

The resource collection provided guidance on everything from setting up outdoor classrooms to integrating curricula with natural environments. Crucially, the initiative also ensured that all students, regardless of their background or school resources, could benefit from safe and engaging outdoor educational experiences. The foundation of trust and collaboration between SMCOE and Ten Strands made it possible to quickly respond to emergent needs and scale solutions that benefit all students.

Cultivating Seeds to Solutions The years of accumulated trust, shared vision, and successful collaboration between SMCOE and Ten Strands culminated in our most ambitious project to date: the development of Seeds to Solutions. This groundbreaking, high-quality set of K–12 units was brought to life with $6 million in state funding — and is available for free to educators.

Each grade-level unit of Seeds to Solutions introduces students to an age-appropriate, California-specific environmental challenge, like food waste, extreme heat, power outages, wildfires, and water use. From there, students are empowered to investigate its causes, understand who is affected, and, most importantly, explore and design possible solutions.

Early reception from teachers has been enthusiastic. One fifth-grade teacher shared: “The message that there are solutions to help us combat climate change, and that people are working together to solve problems, has helped students stay in a place of curiosity; they didn’t show anxiety over the content.”

Seeds to Solutions represents what can be achieved when an education agency and NGO combine their unique strengths. Ten Strands brought its statewide convening power, deep understanding of education policy, and ability to gather diverse stakeholders and expert voices. SMCOE, in turn, offered invaluable on-the-ground implementation expertise, direct connection to teachers and students, and understanding of the practical realities of classroom and school district operations. This allowed for the creation of curricular resources that are not only scientifically robust and pedagogically sound, but also highly practical and relevant to the lived experiences of California students.

Seeds to Solutions exemplifies how a long-term partnership can create comprehensive, system-wide solutions that will benefit generations of students.

A model for making lasting change The journey of the SMCOE-Ten Strands partnership, from a single teacher institute to the creation of statewide curricular resources, offers a model for making system-level impact. Long-term collaboration between a local education agency and a nonprofit can profoundly transform not only the partners themselves but also the broader education landscape.

The ripple effects are evident across California. Students are now engaging with environmental issues not as faraway, abstract concepts, but as real-world, local challenges they are empowered to address with hope and optimism. Teachers are equipped with high-quality, free resources that make climate education accessible and engaging. School campuses are becoming living laboratories for sustainability. Communities are benefiting from student-led projects that address local environmental concerns.

The success of the SMCOE-Ten Strands partnership lies in several key ingredients: a shared vision, sustained commitment from leadership, a willingness to innovate and adapt, and a deep understanding of each other’s strengths. By working together, public agencies and nonprofits can overcome the limitations of their individual silos and create something far greater than either could achieve alone.

As the urgency of climate change continues to mount, my hope is that our partnership and impact provides inspiration and a practical roadmap for others with equally ambitious goals. I deeply believe that by empowering our students, investing in our educators, and sustaining the partnerships that power both efforts, we can cultivate a generation of solution-seekers ready to build a more sustainable and just future.

Nancy Magee is the superintendent of schools for the San Mateo County Office of Education.