(5th Grade & Above)

Let Guppys Make an Impression

In 2025, Reel Guppy Outdoors solidified a major partnership with Ventura County Probation to launch the Oceans of Opportunity Development Program, supported by $198,800 in funding. This investment enabled the expansion of our team with two full-time and three part-time staff, expanded Learning Center Hours, increased outreach activity, and supports six-week cohort-based personal and leadership development programs focused on prevention, family engagement, and community connection. Serving students from fifth grade through college across Ventura County, the program is inclusive of the broader community—not limited to youth on probation—and expands Reel Guppy’s reach onto school campuses, Juvenile Hall, and with additional community referral partners. 28 youth between the ages of 11-18 graduated from the program in 2025. They engaged in activities including kayaking at the Channel Islands Boating Center, financial literacy classes, harbor trips, Harbor Patrol presentations, and rod-building workshops in addition to receiving direct mentorship and career exploration. Building on our strong 2025-2026 outcomes—where 100% of participants graduated, 60% explored new career interests, and 75% returned for continued engagement—this partnership strengthens our capacity to foster belonging, leadership, marine stewardship, career awareness, and sustained participation, while advancing our mission to serve and build community throughout Ventura County.

Program Description
An interactive educational introduction to California’s marine ecosystems: pierside, ocean, lake, river, and tide pool. You can select one or more ecosystems as the focus for your in-classroom “field trip” simulation. With the Channel Islands National Park in our backyard, the marine sanctuary ecosystem is our most popular topic.We use non-living organisms, displays, props, and artificial lures to simulate the ecosystem. To promote responsible angling, we also discuss conservancy efforts, sustainable fisheries, environmental stewardship, anti-littering and clean-up, and state fishing regulations.

The first part of our program is to provide a on campus clinic in your classroom. During the clinic, interactive workbooks, displays, props, and artificial lures are used to provide children and upstanding of marine life, protecting marine life and ocean environment. In addition, ecosystems are discussed, water safety is reviewed and the introduction to fishing is presented.

The field trip is the second part is an outdoor experience consisting of a fishing trip at the local pier or beach. The three-hour adventure consists of fishing, knot tying, problem solving, team building, crab netting, and wildlife exploration. Students learn about the local marine environment. They will see firsthand some of the local California marine live while learning about the ocean ecosystem as well as understanding how to protect it. Students "catch a memory" together while actively protecting the coastal environment.

The Reel Guppy Learning Center located on the Channel Island Harbor provides a local learning environment for all of the community. It enables hands on displays of local marine life, educational activities and introduction to fishing. We seek to empower our participants with education and skills to responsibly enjoy our waters and beaches. At the learning center, scheduled classes provide learning activitvies which include video production, podcasts, knot tying, fishing pole repair, marine life education and awareness. Schools can schedule trips to the learning center.

The multi-media studio located at the Reel Guppy Learning Center is equipped to provide tools for all ages. This is a facility to develop media skills to create their own content for real life experiences in their own environment.