Save Our Shores Receives $20,000 grant from the Coastal Commission’s Whale Tail Grants Program
December 17, 2025
Posted by Olivia Wickett on Jan 21, 2026
Save Our Shores is excited to announce the start of a partnership with the City of Gilroy to engage youth in environmental education! This program, Beyond Gilroy, is a 10 week afterschool and weekend program consisting of field trips and classroom based learning experiences. During the classroom visits, students will learn about the unique ecosystems Monterey Bay has to offer from the redwoods to our kelp forests. Youth participants will take field trips to an array of diverse local sites ranging from Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park to Lovers Point in Pacific Grove. Back in the classroom, we will discuss how these unique natural features are increasingly affected by climate change, and what we can do to best preserve them. Some topics that will be covered include tides and the impact of rising sea levels, as well as watersheds and how they are impacted by wildfire and pollution.
At each field trip site, students will have the opportunity to create personal connections with our natural environment through nature journaling, playing in the dirt and sand, and other fun activities.
The program focuses on exploring solutions for the symptoms of climate change, through science experiments and fun group activities. By exploring a variety of solutions through playful learning, students will experience reduced eco-anxiety. This approach replaces fear and hopelessness with inspiration, confidence, and readiness for the future.
Students from this cohort will have the opportunity to join us again next year in the Youth Activity Leadership program! This program is designed for youth to build their leadership skills through environmental education, nature exploration, and hands-on stewardship. Students in this program will have the chance to create environmental activities, and act as mentors and activity leaders during field trips.
Building personal relationships to their environment helps students understand the need to protect these critical areas as the effects of climate change progress, creating environmental stewards and advocates. By the end of this program, we are going to have a new cohort of lifelong stewards, who love and appreciate what the bay has to offer, as well as protect it for future generations.
About Save Our Shores:
Save Our Shores was formed as the result of a grassroots campaign to prevent oil drilling off our coast in the early 1980’s. We’ve continued to advocate for smarter ocean policies and coastal protections ever since. Our mission is to foster thriving and sustainable ecosystems in the Monterey Bay and surrounding habitats through equitable environmental action.
