Meet Our Community: Sara Koepnick

As part of our seasonal spotlight series, we’re celebrating our incredible employees, partners, and volunteers who help make the work of Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful (KCCB) possible. In our Earth Day Blog, we talk about the ‘Ripple Effect’ and how all it takes is one person to inspire many to make a change in their community. Today we’re excited to introduce Sara, previously a public school teacher and now part of our creek cleanup staff at KCCB. Sara Koepnick has a love for the beach and outdoor spaces, and brings genuine care for the environment to their work every day. Sara discovered that the people are the most important part of this community and hopes to build more programming to involve the community around the creek.

Role: Creek Cleanup Crew Team Member

With KCCB: 6 Months!

Tabling for KCCB

Fun Facts 🌟

• Happy place: The beach 🏞️ 

• Unusual creek sightings: Ankle monitor 🎯

• Favorite hobbies: Hiking, camping, art, nature, journaling 🥾⛺

• Favorite place to eat: Pizza 😋

• Favorite color: Red, yellow, turquoise 🌈

When Sara was asked about their favorite color, they said, “It’s hard to narrow it down. I like red a lot. Red, yellow, turquoise. Anything happy, sunshiny. Beachy colors that remind me of seaglass.”

How it All Started 🌱

Sara started off as a public school teacher for 19 years and quit this past year in 2025. They were in the middle of figuring out what to do, and something Sara was always interested in was the outdoors and environmental education. A couple of years ago, Sara discovered KCCB; then more recently, an email with a job opening popped up, and the rest is history.

Sara at KCCB's 10th Anniversary Party

“I kind of happened upon it. It wasn’t intentional, but stars aligned,” Sara said.

What motivates Sara the most are the volunteers, their colleagues, and the energy and excitement.

Sara described, “I’m super impressed with the volunteers who are there for almost every single cleanup. They’re very dedicated and knowledgeable. Everyone. And there’s energy and excitement about cleaning up and being helpful and contributing positively to the community.”

Impact on the Community 🌎

Sara discovered something significant in their time with KCCB; there is a draw to the people that this organization connects, the programming involving people with the environment, and the process of working towards shared goals within the community.

When asked about their favorite memory, Sara shared, “I think just the fact that different people from different age groups and different places are all coming together to work on a common goal, and I think just seeing that is impactful. Just bringing together lots of different people to work on something…and people feel proud of the work they did.”

Looking Ahead: The Future of KCCB ☀️🌳

In terms of the future, Sara is hopeful to see more programs to engage people with the creek and increase learning about the habitat. 

Sara shared, “Being active and learning about the habitat is basically right in people’s backyards that maybe they didn’t know so much about. Biking and learning about what you see along the trail or going out to nature journal to sit in a spot and actually observe and see what’s out there.”

By increasing learning and awareness within the community, as a byproduct, this in turn begins to build more stewardship in people, Sara expressed. 

Final Thoughts ✨

What brings Sara to this work is simple: the people.

“It’s honestly the people who are there. Consistently, the repeat volunteers or staff are very kind. And you learn new things, you feel appreciated and valued as a volunteer or a staff member…you can go to lots of different places to help the environment, so it is the people.”