Session 5: Extreme Heat Infrastructure Scavenger Hunt

In January 2026, the Climate Impact Innovators spent a sunny Saturday in Santa Rosa conducting a school infrastructure “scavenger hunt” and surveying community members. As part of this site inventory, the youth were tasked with identifying protective heat structures, such as water fountains and shared benches, and features of the natural environment that help protect people from heat, such as trees and vegetation.

The Climate Impact Innovators conducting an extreme heat site inventory at Roseland Creek Elementary School in Santa Rosa.

The youth visited Sheppard Elementary School and Roseland Creek Elementary School to see what heat infrastructure schools in Southwest Santa Rosa have on site. The youth observed the large concrete areas that characterize school blacktops, play structures, and athletic fields that lacked shade, and the dark heat-trapping materials that many school benches, lunch tables, and water fountains are made of.

As students in Southwest Santa Rosa, the Climate Impact Innovators understand better than anyone how important it is to have safe, green, and cool school campuses that allow students to thrive and stay safe during hot days. These school site visits are a starting point to understand the role of schools in urban heat mitigation.