Community Hubs in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands Receive Twelve Climate Kids Explorer Backpack Sets
- Climate Science Alliance
- 3 days ago
- 5 min read
Twelve Caribbean Climate Kids Explorer Backpack sets—which help educators make climate science topics both accessible and engaging for students—have officially arrived in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands! On today’s blog you’ll hear from the first school to receive the backpack sets, read about the collaborative effort behind the Climate-Smart Caribbean Project, and learn about the three community hubs where you can access the backpacks.
The Caribbean Climate Kids Explorer Backpack sets have officially arrived in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. This collaborative project, led by the Climate Science Alliance in partnership with the USDA Caribbean Climate Hub, is designed to offer local educators a hands-on, bilingual educational resource that blends science, storytelling, and art—making climate education both accessible and engaging.
Photos by Noticias de Ponce
The first school to receive the Explorer Backpack sets was El Colegio del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús, located in Ponce, Puerto Rico. In a post from local media outlet Noticias De Ponce, educators shared about the backpack delivery and impact of this partnership:
“El pasado viernes tuvimos una grata conversación con Javier y Nohely quienes nos orientaron sobre el uso y la importancia de las mochilas que estarán disponibles en nuestro colegio gracias a este proyecto. (Last Friday, we had a pleasant conversation with Javier and Nohely, who guided us through the use and importance of the backpacks that will be available at our school thanks to this project.)
Nuestro colegio se convierte en un espacio que facilite y fortalezca las relaciones de diferentes sectores de la comunidad, otras organizaciones y docentes, contribuyendo así al desarrollo de una conciencia ambiental más amplia y comprometida. (Our school becomes a space that facilitates and strengthens relationships between different sectors of the community, other organizations, and teachers, thus contributing to the development of a broader and more committed environmental awareness.)”
Introducing the Climate Kids Caribbean Hub
This Summer, the Climate Kids Caribbean project culminated in the creation and delivery of 12 sets of the Caribbean Climate Kids Explorer Backpacks. Each set contains three backpacks focused on different aspects of climate science: Climate Change 101, Climate Ready Agriculture, and Regional Impacts of Climate Change in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Three sets of these backpacks are now distributed across community hubs in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, ensuring they reach educators, students, and local environmental groups who will benefit most from these resources.
The backpacks were given to hub locations in St. John at Friends of the Virgin Islands National Park and at two Puerto Rico locations—a community organization in Manatí and a school in Ponce. Keep reading or click here to learn how to access the backpacks. With nine additional sets on the way, these backpacks will soon be available at more sites, amplifying the reach of this educational initiative.
Science, Storytelling, and Art in a Backpack!
The Caribbean Climate Kids Explorer Backpacks are designed to bring together multiple learning modalities. They combine science, storytelling, and art to create a multifaceted learning experience for students. Each backpack includes educational materials like printed lesson plans, hands-on activities, and books that help illustrate complex climate concepts in a fun and approachable way.
To ensure these resources are accessible to a wide audience, all materials have been translated into both Spanish and English. This bilingual approach ensures that educators and students can engage with the content in their native language, making climate education more inclusive and impactful.
Teacher Training: Coming Together to Train the Trainers
A key component of this project was ensuring that educators were equipped to use the backpacks effectively in their classrooms. Climate Science Alliance worked closely with the USDA Caribbean Climate Hub to provide teacher training. Virtual training sessions were held for educators at Friends of the Virgin Islands National Park, and in-person meetings were conducted in Manatí and Ponce to deliver the backpacks and provide hands-on training.
These sessions offered practical tips on how to integrate the curriculums into existing lesson plans and explore creative ways to use the resources in broader educational programs. The goal was to not only familiarize educators with the materials but also to create a support system for long-term success.
A Collaborative Effort
This initiative was truly a team effort, made possible by the contributions of numerous dedicated partners. Special thank you to the USDA Caribbean Climate Hub team for their long standing efforts to deliver science based knowledge and practical information to farmers, ranchers, forest landowners, and community partners. We are so pleased that we could be a part of this project and contribute to the Hub’s mission. We would also like to thank our partners at UC San Diego, specifically Javier Garcia-Colon, who was instrumental in helping deliver and distribute the backpacks, and ensuring they were placed in the hands of those who would benefit most. Special thanks go to the community partners in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands who are now hosting the backpacks.
We also want to acknowledge the translators, who played a crucial role in ensuring the materials were accessible to all. Their hard work ensured that the bilingual nature of the project was seamless, allowing us to connect with communities across language barriers.
This collaborative project has the potential to create a lasting impact, empowering students and educators to better understand the urgent challenges posed by climate change while providing the tools they need to respond. With 9 more sets ready to be distributed into the community, the Caribbean Climate Kids Explorer Backpacks will continue to make waves in the region, supporting the next generation of climate-conscious leaders.
Where to Find the Caribbean Climate Kids Explorer Backpack Sets
Interested educators in Puerto Rico can collaborate with the educators from the hubs at El Colegio del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús and Barrioizacion in Manatí to check out the backpacks. Interested educators in St. John or St. Thomas can coordinate with the Friends of the Virgin Islands National Park to check out the backpacks. Educators who are not in close proximity to those locations can contact the USDA Caribbean Climate Hub to see what other check out options are available.
For those who are unable to access the physical backpack sets, stay tuned for an exciting announcement this Fall! The Climate Science Alliance team is working hard to bring you our Climate Kids resources—including the Caribbean Explorer Backpack sets—as online resources. As part of the Climate Kids Connects webpage, you’ll be able to download and access these resources at the click of a button. Don’t miss our announcement; sign up for our newsletter here.
About the Climate-Smart Caribbean Project
In 2022, the Climate Science Alliance joined a collaborative project with the USDA Caribbean Climate Hub to help reduce the effects and vulnerabilities to climate change and extreme climate events and develop relationships and connections to foster further learning and technology transfer of climate-smart solutions in Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands.
Expanding on the collaborative efforts and relationships formed from the Descendants United for Nature, Adaptation, and Science (DUNAS) project, the Climate Science Alliance was excited to return to Puerto Rico and form new relationships in the US Virgin Islands to co-produce new Climate Kids materials to support K-12 educators through teacher trainings and new educational resources.
You can learn more about the Climate-Smart Caribbean Project in our blog announcing the project partnership, the backpacks’ first public debut at AgriFest in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and our two-week visit to the Caribbean last summer.
