My Experience Tabling for KCCB at the Wild and Scenic Film Festival at Foothill College

This past month, I had the amazing opportunity to collaborate with Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful for my community engagement commitment in Santa Clara University’s Environmental Education course.

I selected Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful, or KCCB, mainly because I previously interned at a wetland restoration project, where I helped with everything from overnight children’s camps to habitat construction. That experience made me realize that I really enjoy working in the natural environment, especially when the work includes both education and restoration. I wanted to continue that kind of work in a local setting, and KCCB felt like a great organization to work with because their mission is very connected to community, creek restoration, and environmental awareness.

Even though I am an outdoor enthusiast, the event I enjoyed the most was actually the tabling events.

On May 16, I tabled at the Wild and Scenic Film Festival at Foothill College. The venue itself was not as big as the tabling event at West Valley College, but around 1,000 people attended, which meant we needed to be on top of our game. Since there were so many people walking around, we had to quickly explain who KCCB is, what we do, and why people should care about Coyote Creek. It was a little overwhelming at first, but I also felt excited because it gave me a chance to practice environmental education in a very real setting.

Casper, showing off the 64-Mile Challenge at the Wild and Scenic Film Festival

One of the main objectives we were trying to achieve was spreading awareness about the 64-Mile Challenge. The 64-Mile Challenge is essentially a challenge that motivates people to attend free creek cleanups, creek restoration events, and BioBlitz events. At the end, folks earn special recognition from KCCB and a sticker. I think this is a great way to engage the community because it is accessible to everyone. People can simply sign up for the event that interests them and fits their schedule. Not only do participants get to learn about the biodiversity and environment along Coyote Creek, but the raffle also makes the event more attractive and fun to attend.

This ties directly into our environmental education class because one of the main ideas from the in-class readings is that environmental education should not just be about giving people information. It should help people build a real connection with their local environment. The 64-Mile Challenge does this because it encourages people to actually go outside, walk along the creek, observe species, clean up trash, and participate in restoration. Instead of learning about nature as something far away or abstract, people are learning about a real ecosystem that exists right next to their homes, schools, and neighborhoods. This reminds me of the idea of place-based education, where students and community members learn from the local land around them. Coyote Creek becomes more than just a creek people pass by; it becomes a place they know, care about, and hopefully want to protect.

One thing I learned is that in order to catch a family’s attention, you usually want to initiate a game with the children first. Once the children get interested, the parents usually slow down and start listening too. This was one of the most important things I learned from tabling. If we just stood there and talked about creek restoration, many people might walk past us. But when we made the interaction fun for kids, families became more willing to stop and engage.

Tabling and connecting with families

This also connects to environmental education because many of the readings talked about how children learn best through curiosity, play, and direct experience. Environmental education is not always about giving a lecture. Sometimes, it starts with a small game, a question, or an interesting object on the table. When children are allowed to be curious first, they are more likely to remember the experience. In a way, tabling taught me that successful environmental education should feel inviting, not forced. It should make people want to learn more, instead of making them feel like they are being told what to care about.

What I’ve grown the most is my ability to make small talk. Since English is not my first language, it was more challenging for me to start conversations with strangers. I remember my first tabling event at the Earth Day Celebration at Russo/McEntee Academy. I was so nervous and felt deflated because I was not able to keep the kids engaged. I kept overthinking what to say, and I felt like I was not doing a good job representing the organization. But after more practice and more events, I became much more comfortable communicating with people of all age groups. Instead of “force-feeding” KCCB’s mission, I learned how to spread awareness through more natural conversations. I learned to ask people simple questions, respond to what they were interested in, and adjust how I talked depending on whether I was speaking with a child, a parent, or an older adult. Fortunately, there were also a lot of Mandarin-speaking families, so I was able to use that to my

advantage and show hospitality in my native tongue. That made me feel more confident because I could help make the table feel more welcoming to people who might feel more comfortable speaking Mandarin.

Overall, this experience helped me understand that environmental education is not only about knowledge. It is also about communication, access, and building relationships. Social justice is connected to this because environmental education should be open and welcoming to all communities, not just people who already know about environmental issues. Organizations like KCCB help make environmental learning more accessible by offering free events and meeting people where they are.

Finally, I want to thank all the amazing people I met, including Molly, Jessica, Néstor, and many others at KCCB, who worked with me during this amazing experience. This opportunity helped me connect what we learned in class with real community engagement, and it reminded me that environmental education works best when people feel included, curious, and connected to the places around them.