Sample 1
No Child Left Inside Grant Proposal
Project Title: Mt. Rainier Explorers Tacoma Middle School Outdoor Learning and Stewardship Days
Applicant: Puget Sound Sustainable Futures Alliance PSSFA
Grant Program: Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office No Child Left Inside
Tier: Tier 2
Request Amount: 24320 plus optional indirect costs up to 10 percent if claimed
Project Period: [Start Month Year] to [End Month Year]
Service Area: Tacoma Washington
Participants: 800 middle school students from 8 partner schools
Primary Site: Mt. Rainier public lands lower elevation trails and ranger education facilities
Primary Contacts: Project Director [Name Title Phone Email] Finance Contact [Name Title Phone Email]
Executive Summary
Puget Sound Sustainable Futures Alliance PSSFA requests Tier 2 No Child Left Inside funding to deliver Mt. Rainier Explorers, a high impact outdoor learning and stewardship program that will serve 800 middle school students from eight Tacoma area schools. The program is designed for youth who are least likely to access Washington public lands due to transportation cost, family time constraints, limited prior outdoor exposure, and historical and cultural exclusion from outdoor recreation and environmental education.
Across eight full day field trips, students will experience Mt. Rainier public lands through a structured sequence of hiking, supervised stewardship, ranger led ecosystem learning, and place based learning developed with Indigenous partner guidance to ensure accuracy, respect, and contemporary relevance. Students will practice public lands ethics, learn Leave No Trace behaviors, and participate in a stewardship activity that improves site conditions and builds lifelong stewardship identity.
PSSFA will remove the primary access barrier by fully covering transportation, staffing, and education programming. The program is cost efficient at 30.40 per student based on the current budget model. Evaluation is built into delivery through a brief pre and post survey, a standardized stewardship tally sheet documenting litter removed and hotspots, and a student reflection scored with a rubric. Results will be shared with school partners and public lands partners to strengthen future programming and sustain trips beyond the grant period through blended funding that maintains equitable access.
Organizational Background
Founded in 2019, Puget Sound Sustainable Futures Alliance PSSFA connects youth in the Puget Sound region with hands on sustainability education and equitable access to nature. PSSFA believes early, frequent, and meaningful contact with public lands is a powerful lever for climate resilience, community wellbeing, and long term stewardship, especially for youth who face structural barriers to outdoor access.
Mission Statement
To empower underserved youth in urban Washington communities with hands on sustainability education, fostering environmental stewardship, climate resilience, and equitable access to nature while promoting long term ecological health and social justice.
PSSFA employs six full time staff and works with a network of more than 60 volunteers. Our board of directors is diverse and brings more than 100 combined years of experience in youth development, environmental education, nonprofit leadership, and community partnerships. PSSFA has experience coordinating school based programming, managing youth safety in field settings, and delivering engaging environmental learning that is inclusive and culturally responsive.
Key partners for Mt. Rainier Explorers include Tacoma Public Schools and participating middle schools, public lands education staff supporting site coordination and ranger led learning, Puget Sound Keepers supporting stewardship curriculum and prevention messaging, and Indigenous partner representatives supporting accurate and respectful place based learning content.
Statement of Need Youth and Community Context
Tacoma area youth experience unequal access to public lands and outdoor learning. Many students face barriers that include the cost of buses, limited family transportation, caregiver work schedules, lack of gear, uncertainty about outdoor norms and safety, and a long history of who has felt welcome and represented in outdoor recreation spaces. For multilingual households, family communication and permission processes can be harder to navigate without translation support. For students with accessibility needs, outdoor opportunities can be limited without intentional planning.
These barriers create a pattern where youth grow up near iconic public lands but never experience them. This reduces access to the educational and health benefits of nature, weakens civic connection to public lands, and narrows who sees themselves as future stewards and leaders in conservation.
Mt. Rainier Explorers is an equity first intervention that removes cost barriers and delivers a predictable, supportive, and joy filled experience on public lands during the school day. By partnering directly with schools, the program reaches students who are otherwise least likely to visit Mt. Rainier, creating a positive first experience that builds belonging, skills, and stewardship identity.
Tacoma Public Schools serves a student population with significant equity and access gaps. Across the eight participating middle schools, 62–78% of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, and six of the eight schools are designated Title I. District demographic data shows that participating cohorts are predominantly students of color, with approximately 44% Hispanic/Latino, 18% Black or African American, 11% Asian or Pacific Islander, and 6% Native or multiracial students. More than 30% of students speak a language other than English at home, and several partner schools report high proportions of newcomer and multilingual families.
Despite living within 90 minutes of Mt. Rainier, school partners report that fewer than 25% of participating students have ever visited the park, primarily due to transportation cost, caregiver work schedules, and lack of organized opportunities during the school day. City and county planning documents further indicate that many Tacoma neighborhoods served by this program have limited access to quality green space and higher exposure to environmental stressors, reinforcing disparities in outdoor learning and nature-based health benefits. Mt. Rainier Explorers directly addresses these gaps by providing no-cost, school-day access to public lands paired with structured learning and stewardship, ensuring that students who are least likely to visit Washington’s iconic landscapes are prioritized.
1. Program
Mt. Rainier Explorers will deliver eight full day outdoor learning and stewardship trips built around a consistent structure that is safe, engaging, and operationally realistic. Each trip is designed to give students a vivid sense of adventure and discovery while building knowledge and stewardship behavior.
What students will do
Students will travel by bus from their school to Mt. Rainier. They will hike an accessible lower elevation trail selected in coordination with public lands staff and adjusted as needed for weather and conditions. Students will participate in a supervised stewardship activity focused on litter collection in high impact areas such as trailheads, parking areas, and other heavily trafficked locations, as permitted and guided by public lands staff. Students will attend a ranger led education session focused on forest ecosystems, climate resilience, wildlife habitat, and public lands ethics. Students will engage in a place based learning module guided by Indigenous partner input to ensure accurate and respectful learning about the people, history, and living connections to place. The day ends with structured reflection and a personal commitment to stewardship.
Sample itinerary
8:00 Depart school by bus. Safety briefing, group norms, Leave No Trace expectations.
10:00 Arrive. Orientation, restrooms, group assignments, warm up.
10:30 Guided hike with observation prompts and learning stops.
12:00 Lunch and structured reflection check in.
12:30 Stewardship activity. Student pairs collect litter with staff supervision. Staff record totals and hotspots. Debrief on impacts and prevention.
14:00 Ranger led education session in an education space. Ecosystem learning, climate resilience, stewardship responsibilities.
15:00 Place based learning module with Indigenous partner approved content and terminology.
15:45 Closing reflection. Commitment setting. Optional group photo with permissions.
16:15 Depart and return to school.
Implementation plan and staffing
Each trip is facilitated by four trained PSSFA staff. Staff responsibilities include safety management, student supervision, facilitation of learning and reflection, stewardship coordination, and evaluation administration. School partners support student recruitment, permission processes, chaperoning alignment, and classroom integration before and after the trip. Public lands partners coordinate site access, advise on stewardship locations and protocols, and deliver ranger led education sessions.
Safety and risk management
PSSFA maintains a written field safety plan that includes adult to youth ratios, attendance procedures, emergency contacts, first aid readiness, route selection based on conditions, weather preparation guidance, and behavior expectations. PSSFA staff follow public lands safety guidance and communicate plans clearly to teachers and chaperones. PSSFA will ensure that stewardship activities occur only in locations and formats approved by public lands staff and that all collected materials are handled and disposed of according to site guidance.
2. Outcomes
Outcome A Environmental knowledge and stewardship attitudes increase
Target. At least 80 percent of participants demonstrate measurable improvement from pre to post on key items related to public lands ethics, ecosystem understanding, and stewardship responsibility.
Measure. Brief pre and post survey administered on the bus or in class using paper or a QR option.
Outcome B Stewardship impact is documented and communicated
Target. Litter removed is documented for each trip and summarized across all eight trips, including hotspots and top litter categories.
Measure. Standardized stewardship tally sheet completed by staff each trip. Optional photo documentation consistent with school permissions and site guidance.
Outcome C Confidence and intention to return to public lands increases
Target. At least 70 percent of participants report increased confidence to visit parks or public lands again with family or community.
Measure. Post survey item plus optional teacher follow up pulse check 30 to 60 days later to assess whether the trip influenced class engagement or student interest.
Reflection based outcome reinforcement
Students complete a short reflection describing what they experienced, what they learned about caring for public lands, and one action they will take next. PSSFA scores reflections with a rubric that measures connection to place, stewardship understanding, learning specificity, and future action clarity. Results are summarized and used to improve subsequent trips.
Learning loop
After each trip, PSSFA reviews survey results, tally sheets, and teacher feedback to adjust logistics, learning content, and supports. At project end, PSSFA produces a brief outcomes summary shared with school partners and public lands partners and used to support sustainability.
3. Youth and Community
Mt. Rainier Explorers is intentionally designed to serve youth who face the greatest barriers to outdoor access and environmental learning. The program will serve 800 Tacoma area middle school students across eight school trips. School partners will identify participating cohorts with an equity lens that prioritizes students from low income households, historically excluded communities, newcomer and multilingual families, and students with disabilities, consistent with school policies and family privacy.
Barriers the program removes and reduces
-Transportation and participation cost barriers are eliminated by covering buses, staff, and education programming.
-Limited prior exposure and confidence are addressed through a predictable schedule, norms setting, and supportive adult presence.
-Belonging barriers are addressed through culturally responsive facilitation and explicit messaging that public lands are for all communities.
-Language barriers are addressed through translated family materials and interpretation support when needed and feasible.
-Accessibility barriers are addressed through route selection, pacing, and adaptive supports coordinated with schools.
Equity supports that strengthen participation and outcomes
-No cost participation.
-Clear family communication and permission support.
-Structured roles during stewardship so every student can participate meaningfully.
-Trauma informed and culturally responsive facilitation practices.
-Attention to student dignity and belonging in outdoor spaces.
-Coordination with teachers to connect learning to classroom goals.
Community voice and accountability
PSSFA will collect student feedback and teacher input after each trip and will document improvements made. This ensures the program remains responsive to participating schools and youth experience, not only to organizational assumptions.
4. Organization and Partnerships
PSSFA has the staff capacity, youth development experience, and partnership network to deliver Mt. Rainier Explorers at high quality and with strong accountability.
Organizational capacity
PSSFA employs six full time staff and maintains a volunteer network that supports program delivery. Our board of directors provides deep expertise in youth education, environmental learning, nonprofit governance, and community partnerships. PSSFA has systems for scheduling, risk management, youth supervision, and evaluation.
Partnership roles and commitments
Tacoma Public Schools and participating middle schools will recruit participants, coordinate permissions and family communications, align chaperoning, and integrate pre and post trip learning in the classroom.
Public lands education staff will coordinate site access and education logistics, provide ranger led learning sessions, and advise on stewardship locations and protocols to ensure alignment with site rules and safety.
Puget Sound Keepers or another stewardship partner will support stewardship curriculum, safe litter collection practices, and prevention messaging that helps students connect actions to long term impacts.
Indigenous partner representatives will guide and approve place based learning content so it is accurate, respectful, and centered on living communities and contemporary relevance, including correct terminology and appropriate framing.
All partners will provide signed letters on letterhead specifying commitments such as number of students served, number of education sessions delivered, planning participation, and coordination details. Letters will demonstrate that partnerships are active and operational, not informal.
5. Budget
The budget is intentionally designed to maximize equity impact per dollar by funding the most direct access barriers and the essential staffing needed for safe, high quality delivery.
Budget summary
-Per trip total 3040.
-Staff 840.
-Buses 1800.
-Ranger education sessions 400.
-Eight trips total 24320.
-Cost per student 30.40.
Budget justification
Transportation is the primary equity lever. Without buses, the students prioritized for this program would be least likely to access Mt. Rainier. Staff wages cover safe supervision, inclusive facilitation, stewardship coordination, and evaluation administration. Ranger education session fees support high quality learning on public lands and strengthen stewardship identity by connecting student actions to public lands ethics and ecological systems. Optional supports such as stewardship supplies, translation support, and evaluation printing can be included if confirmed and allowable. If claimed, indirect costs will not exceed 10 percent and will support essential administrative functions such as compliance, financial management, and reporting.
Budget efficiency and leverage
At 30.40 per student, the program provides direct public lands experience, stewardship participation, and measurable learning outcomes at a cost that supports scaling. PSSFA will use outcomes results to leverage additional support from school partners and community funding sources for sustainability beyond the grant period.
6. State Parks and Public Lands
All activities take place on public lands at or near Mt. Rainier in coordination with public lands education staff. Students will learn public lands responsibilities and will apply that learning through a supervised stewardship activity that improves site conditions and builds long term stewardship behavior.
Public lands stewardship connection
Students learn Leave No Trace principles and apply them through structured litter collection in approved high impact areas. Debriefs connect observed litter sources to prevention strategies, visitor responsibilities, and community stewardship. Students leave with a personal commitment to protect parks and natural areas.
Coordination and compliance
PSSFA will coordinate trip dates, locations, and stewardship protocols with public lands partners and will follow all site rules and safety guidance. Stewardship activities will occur only in approved locations and will follow guidance for handling and disposal. PSSFA will align timing, group management, and education logistics with public lands staff to ensure a positive experience for students and other visitors.
Sustainability Plan
PSSFA and Tacoma school partners intend to sustain Mt. Rainier Explorers beyond the grant period. If the program is successful, PSSFA will secure blended funding that may include school system support, community sponsorships, and additional grants. Sustainability planning will prioritize equity, so cost does not exclude low-income students. Evaluation findings will be used to demonstrate impact, refine delivery, and strengthen ongoing commitments for 2026 and beyond.