ORANGE, Calif. — For 50 years and counting, the Orange County Departmet of Education’s Inside the Outdoors program has been teaching OC kids all about the environment.

Inside the Outdoors is part of the California Environmental Literacy Initiative, a public–private partnership that aims to increase access to relevant and impactful environment-based learning for all of California's pre K–12 students.

The program takes what is taught in the classrooms and combines it with educational experiences outdoors. One of the outings this year took third graders to Santiago Oaks Regional Park in Orange to learn about how well each of the following is equipped to survive in the area: coastal live oak tree, darkling beetle and California king snake.

Program naturalist Teresa Garcia led the group through the park to do various activities to examine and learn about each of the species. When she was 11 years old, she also participated in the program.

The kids got the opportunity to even touch or pet the beetle and snake. As student Oliver Anderson pet the darkling beetle he exclaimed, “Oh, that actually feels so cool!” And all he said the whole day was, “Cool.”

The environmental education program serves about 120,000 participants per school year and has served 3.5 million students in its 50-year history.