Dean Helps Students See The Green

This story originally aired May 15, 2009.

Growing up in Crenshaw in South Los Angeles, children don't always have the chance to go outside and play.

"I had no idea what a forest looked like except in a picture or in a book," says Cynthia Rivas, of Crenshaw. "It's really hard for people to imagine that."

But Bill Vanderberg, dean of students at Crenshaw High School, took it upon himself to change that -- and the process has changed his students' lives.

He started a club at school that celebrates the environment -- the Eco Club. It gives urban students who live in one of the toughest neighborhoods in L.A. a chance to escape their life in the city.

And for his efforts, he was named an "Early's Angel" Friday on The Early Show.

Vanderberg said his club offers a getaway from what he calls "war-zone like conditions.

"I could not imagine coming to school with that stress every day, having to worry about being robbed or beaten up every day," he said.

The Eco Club offers his students an opportunity to take students -- regardless of grade point average or discipline issues -- on weekly hikes, community service outings and annual backpacking trips to Yosemite National Park.

"There is no safe place to play outside in this community," Vanderberg said. "I became involved because I simply wanted people to go out and play and do things every kid has the right to do."

The Eco Club has given some students the opportunity to see the ocean and the mountains -- many for the first time.

"(The club) gives my students a chance to experience the wider world," Vanderberg says.

The club also has its share of success stories.

Leo Morazan was caught up in vandalism in the ninth grade, when he met Vanderberg during one of his suspensions. He suggested Morazan join the club.

"I met other people in the Eco Club who were doing the same things I was," Morazan said, "and they helped me get turned around."

Morazan joined the Eco Club and is now on his way to college this fall -- with the goal of becoming a park ranger.

Rivas has also been impacted by the Eco Club

"At the time we went to Yosemite, she was a senior with no real interest in going to college, had never been outdoors, never experienced wilderness," Vanderberg said.

But the Eco club sparked an interest in her that led to a double major at Berkeley in conservation resource studies and forestry, and continued plans for a Master's degree in environmental management at Yale.

"If it weren't for that trip I don't think I would have had that perspective, and if it weren't for this club," Rivas says. "I don't think I would be here sometimes."

Paul Scibetta, assistant principal at Crenshaw High School, said Vanderberg has opened doors for the students beyond their expectations.

"He was always the person pushing you to do better," Rivas said.

Vanderberg said he is just trying to give something back.

He said, "I think it would be selfish on my part not to share who I am and what I can do."

The Early Show would like to thank the following for their contributions to Vanderberg's club -- which he was told about on the show on Friday:

Timberland
Timberland is giving Crenshaw High School's Eco Club 100 pairs of shoes from their Earthkeepers and Mountain Athletics collections!