San Diego City Council Member Donna Frye spoke to 60 San Diego Cooperative Charter School first and second grade students at the second annual Canyon Classroom on April 16.

Frye, who founded Surfers Tired of Pollution (S.T.O.P.), received the 2005 Legislator of the Year Award from the San Diego River Park Foundation and the 2005 San Diego Environmental Champion Award from the San Diego League of Conservation Voters, pushed for the Canyon Day event in response to the parking structure built on campus.

“If 10 to 20 kids from here fall in love with the canyon, they’re the ones who will be fighting for it,” said Frye, “That’s the important thing.”

Canyon Classroom, founded one year after the first Canyon Day in 2008, is an event sponsored by San Diego Mesa College to increase awareness among younger children about the delicate ecosystems in Tecolote Canyon, located adjacent to Mesa College.

Tri-Canyon Parks’ Senior Ranger Tracey Walker, transferred from Mission Trails in March of this year, works closely with Frye and local government to preserve San Diego’s natural parks.

“Donna is one of the best ‘green’ council members we’ve had,” said Walker.

Walker led groups across Genesee Avenue on hour-long walks through Tecolote. He informed the children about its twenty-six endangered species, its former inhabitants, the Cuyamaca Tribe, and its most destructive nuisance, the house cat.

Student volunteers, primarily from Associate Professor of Geology Don Barrie’s and English Professor Laurie Lorence’s classes, helped run games, including plant bingo, arts and crafts.

“This event gives my students [taking k-12 education classes] excellent exposure to an educational opportunity,” said Lorence.

The Enviro-Club led the children in a weeding exercise and helped them paint ceramic pots, provided by Mesa’s ceramics classes, for planting their own garlic seeds.

The organic garden next to the P100-200 buildings is maintained by Mesa’s Enviro-Club and offers a hands-on opportunity to build practical knowledge regarding environmental sustainability and eco-friendly practices.

“They look up to people like us and its good to know they have mentors like us available,” said Mesa student Daniel Martinez, 29, Applied Design Major.

The outdoor event began despite a threatening morning mist at 9 a.m. in front of the P100-200 building, a pair of small classrooms situated at the base of Mesa’s Northwest cliff next to the Animal Health Tech Building and near the corner of Marlesta and Genesee Avenue.