Bringing Redwood Forests into the Classroom—and Students into the Redwoods
The North Coast Redwood Education Program connects classroom learning with immersive experiences in the redwood forests of California’s North Coast.
Supported by Save the Redwoods League and the Humboldt County Office of Education, and developed in collaboration with California State Parks, the program provides teachers with training, ready-to-use curriculum, field-based educational support, and financial assistance for transportation and substitute-teacher costs.
The goal is simple: help students build a deeper understanding of redwood forests before they visit them—and then give them the opportunity to experience these extraordinary ecosystems firsthand.
How the Program Works
1. Teacher Training
New participating teachers begin with a Saturday training in early March at Sequoia Park Zoo in Eureka.
During the training, teachers become familiar with the North Coast Redwood Education Program, explore the curriculum, meet program educators, and prepare to bring redwood ecology and conservation into their classrooms.
The training is designed to give teachers everything they need to participate confidently, even if they have limited previous experience teaching about redwood forests.
2. Bring the Redwoods into Your Classroom
Following the training, teachers use the program curriculum with their students.
Lessons are designed to fit naturally into existing classroom instruction and integrate several subject areas, including science and language arts. Students explore the ecology, natural history, adaptations, and interconnected communities of the redwood forest while developing the background knowledge that will make their eventual field experience more meaningful.
Rather than beginning their field trip as visitors encountering an unfamiliar landscape, students arrive already knowing something about the towering trees, forest organisms, ecological processes, and stories they are about to experience.
3. Take Learning into the Forest
After completing the classroom curriculum, teachers bring their students on a scheduled redwood field trip supported by educators from Save the Redwoods League, California State Parks, and the North Coast Redwood Education Program.
Teachers may choose a fall or spring field trip at one of two remarkable redwood destinations:
- Humboldt Redwoods State Park
- Prairie Creek Redwoods State and National Parks
During the field trip, students take what they have learned indoors and place it into a living landscape—walking beneath ancient trees, observing forest communities, asking questions, making connections, and experiencing the scale and complexity of a redwood ecosystem firsthand.
Transportation and Substitute Costs Are Covered
We want participation in the program to be possible for schools regardless of transportation costs.
Following the field trip, the Humboldt County Office of Education provides full reimbursement for eligible school bus transportation costs and substitute-teacher expenses when needed.
This support allows teachers and schools to focus on providing students with a meaningful educational experience rather than worrying about the financial barriers associated with getting students into the field.
Once You Are Trained
Teacher training only needs to be completed once.
After becoming a trained North Coast Redwood Education Program teacher, educators can continue participating in the program and select either a fall or spring field experience at Humboldt Redwoods State Park or Prairie Creek Redwoods National and State Parks, subject to program scheduling and availability.
From Knowledge to Connection
Redwood forests offer an extraordinary classroom.
A fallen log can become a lesson in decomposition. A sword fern can open a conversation about adaptation. A creek can reveal the connections between forests and salmon. And standing beneath a tree that has lived for centuries can help students understand time, resilience, and their own relationship to the landscapes around them.
The North Coast Redwood Education Program builds a bridge between those moments and the work already happening in the classroom.
Teacher training → Classroom curriculum → Redwood field experience
Together, these experiences help young people develop not only knowledge about redwood forests, but also curiosity, belonging, and a lasting connection to the remarkable landscapes of California’s North Coast.
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