An important part of the community-engaged work is the direct collaboration we have with a wide range of community members. Through our partnership with United Latinos in South Sacramento, we were invited to participate in workshops with middle and high school students as part of their curriculum.

The plan, coordinated by Richard of United Latinos, was to introduce the students to the basics of air quality, allow them to engage with the various air monitoring equipment we had, and to have them participate in a creative arts activity that would result in a collective poem. I brought TARTA into an area of the school that looked like a garage workshop where there was a table for our equipment set up and a screen for us to present, and our fantastic community partners brought a handheld black carbon monitor

We started off with introductions and got to learn a bit about the students' interests. While it was only a handful of students, this allowed us to ask more about their diverse interests and have more hands-on time with the equipment. Since they had spent some time constructing some experiments themselves, they already had the backdrop to understand some of the mechanics behind the sensors we showed them. They were curious about the internal mechanics of TARTA, and hoped to be able to see some of the data someday. 

We were joined by the Sacramento Air Quality District who gave more details about monitoring and air quality for the students, piquing their interest about the range of modalities with which one can approach air quality management. 

Our collective poem reflected on the intersections of environmental justice, air quality, and a list of words that students and presenters had come up with. I read the poem aloud to the group, a few of whom were creatively inclined. The various methods of engagement made for a dynamic presentation and a fun start to working with the school.