Betsy Rivera

Betsy-Rivera-172x228
Green Ambassadors Teacher, Environmental Charter High School
MA Ed, Digital Teaching and Learning ’13, Azusa Pacific University
BA Sociology ’04 & BA Psychology ’04, Azusa Pacific University

After seven years leading hikes, backpacking trips, and outdoor education experiences in Yosemite, the Santa Monica Mountains and Channel Islands, Betsy was excited to begin the next chapter of her life as a classroom teacher. She joined Environmental Charter High School as the Green Ambassadors teacher in 2014 and used her passion and experience in outdoor environmental education to help students develop an awareness of sustainability and their shared responsibilities to the earth. ECHS’s campus feels like home to Betsy who proclaims, “it smells like the mountains, here!” In her class, she utilizes the outdoor spaces as much as possible and often helps her students plan after-school events to bring in the surrounding communities and teach others about sustainable actions. Betsy’s personal mission in life is to make a positive difference in the world and she hopes to do that by inspiring ECHS students to form a personal connection to the natural world and responsible actions to sustain it.

Whenever she can, Betsy will head outside to play, whether it be paddle-boarding in the marina, hiking in the mountains, biking along the beach, or doing cartwheels in the sand. Betsy enjoys bringing people together through large home-cooked meals, has been known to get distracted by a cool bird sighting, and will never be without at least three pairs of shoes or a smile.