2020-21 PROGRAMMING: Transitioning to Hybrid In-Person and Virtual Learning
Manuel Alonso, Executive Director – April 7, 2021

Current Plans: To Continue Offering the Sustainable Youth 2020-21 Paid Internship Program to Our Public High School Partners virtually, with the addition of small group, physically distanced in-person meetings

At Earth Team, we have been working very hard to respond to the COVID-19 crisis for the past 12 months. The 2020-2021 program is well underway, and we have successfully completed 7 months of virtual programming during this school year. As restrictions begin to lift, Earth Team has started to reintroduce small group, physically distanced in-person meetings at easily accessible outdoor community spaces throughout the East Bay. Keep checking back for additional updates throughout the summer regarding 2021-2022 programs.

Our intention is to continue offering the 2020-21 Sustainable Youth Paid Internship Program (SYPIP) to all our high school partners through the remainder of the school year with combination virtual and in-person programming. At the beginning of the year, we developed strategies and schedules that would allow us to seamlessly transition between different models of programming including virtual, in-person and hybrid. This Virtual Plan B has been in motion since September during which time we have continued developing additional online content and incorporating new tools and best practices. Given current data regarding COVID-19, it seems that this “peaks and valleys” scenario, with hot spot closures and re-openings, is what we can expect for the remainder of the 2020-2021 school year and beyond, perhaps for one to two more years. Earth Team will always follow the specific county SIP orders, switching to remote mode whenever countywide restrictions are implemented.

When restrictions are limited, as they are right now, Earth Team plans to reintroduce small group, physically distanced, in-person meetings. These events will allow participants to gain invaluable hands-on skills to enhance their experiences during virtual meetings, discussions, career fairs and more. At present, these in-person events require additional waivers, signed by participants and parents/ guardians as well as the completion of a COVID-19 symptoms and exposure survey 1-3 days before attendance. These activities are currently optional and all students who cannot attend are encouraged to participate in complementary individual field work activities, including litter clean-ups, data collection, and more.

At this time, all staff members are fully vaccinated or have vaccination appointments scheduled. All in-person Earth Team participants will be required to wear a mask or face covering and remain 6 ft from all other participants for the duration of events. Hand sanitizer and additional masks will be provided. Earth Team is not serving food or drinks at in-person events to reduce risk of COVID-19 transmission. Additionally, Earth Team does not plan to provide transportation to participants through the end of the school year in June.

Earth Team has been operating its program without interruption for 25 years. We have accumulated a great deal of institutional memory, resilience and capacity to respond to difficult situations. This is a unique challenge, but in the past months we have shown that we have the capacity for nimble and creative responses, incorporating quickly the best available technologies and increasing our investments in infrastructure and staff training, so we can continue serving our communities that now, more than ever, need nonprofits to fill the space being left by an overwhelmed public education system.