Residents for Jobs and Sustainable Economy,
We the undersigned School Superintendents of Shasta County are in favor of the City of Redding selling 14 acres of property for fair market value to The McConnell Foundation so that Turtle Bay Exploration Park can build a four star hotel. It is important that Turtle Bay have a good income stream to continue operating educational programs for the community. This hotel is a major step in Turtle Bay having the funding necessary to be sustainable. We believe this is important for the following reasons:
- Turtle Bay Exploration Park is a place where students, teachers, out-of-towners, and Shasta County residents can explore, discover, relax, and learn. Through beautiful gardens, inspiring exhibits, playful animals, and imaginative programs, Turtle Bay uses a hands-on and creative approach to education.
- During a recent school year over 11,300 school children visited Turtle Bay from all over the north state and southern Oregon. Over 150 different schools brought students on field trips. Schools from cities as far north as Klamath Falls, OR, south to Marysville and Sacramento, west to Clear Lake, and Pacifica from the San Francisco coast are among those that come every year.
- Students were given the rich experiences of a diverse selection of curriculum-based programs that include live animals up close and personal in the Animals! Animals! Animals! program, or pretend to be a forester in the Exploring Forests program. Third grade students get an opportunity to create an art project in the style of a famous artist during the Museum Art Gallery Experience. The City of Redding REU department electrifies students with a program that teaches the safety, conservation, and importance of electricity. And these are just four of the many programs offered.
- Teachers may also choose a day of self-exploring. Turtle Bay offers Nature Explorers backpacks that teachers can use to supplement their own curriculum as their students explore the grounds, or they can download teacher materials for one of our amazing exhibits and take the students through on their own. Turtle Bay School has even chosen to build a partnership that allows its teachers to walk over and explore the park with their students as many times during the school year as they wish.
- Turtle Bay even helps teachers in the classroom by providing award-winning teacher development workshops and environmental education curriculum. Turtle Bay staff is trained to teach national programs such as the Project Learning Tree and Project WET workshops. They are also part of the Great Exploration in Math and Science (GEMS) network that is associated with the Lawrence Hall of Science at UC Berkeley. GEMS kits are part of Turtle Bay’s vast lending library that allows teachers to check out materials to help them with their curriculum. Along with GEMS kits, teachers can check out nanoscale science curriculum thank to Turtle Bay’s participation in the Nanoscale Informal Science Network.
- Lastly, Turtle Bay is committed to being a place of education not just for schools, but also for the community. The arboretum staff provides great programs on subjects like water-wise gardening and green pesticides and pest management. Saturday programs make learning fun by providing exciting art and science activities for the public, many times collaborating with and promoting other community organizations and businesses. According to the Girl Scout Council, Turtle Bay is the only organization in Northern California that provides on-going education programs and overnights for girl scouts.
As you can see, Turtle Bay Exploration Park is a vital education resource for our community and deserves the support of the City Council and all of the communities of the greater Redding area. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Superintendents:
Rick Fauss, Redding School District S. U. E. S. D.
Charlie Hoffman, BVESD/STROP
Clay Ross, Columbia E.S.D.
Ken Hood, Mountain Union S. D.
Jason Provence, Pacheco Union S. D.
Brian Windstead, Enterprise
Don Aust, Black Butte Elementary
Moria Casey, French Gulch – Whiskeytown S. D.
Stacie Moore, Castle Rock
Balinder Dhillon, Cascade Union
Janet Tufts, Happy Valley U. E. S. D.
Greg Hawkins, Fall River J. U. S. D.
Robert Lowden, Cottonwood Union S. D.
Tim Azevedo, A. U. H. S. D.
Jim Harrell, G. U. S. D.
Jim Cloney, S. U. H. S. D.
Tom Armelino, Shasta County Office of Education
Mike Freeman, Grant Elementary School District
