Kate Pavao launched The Live Like Coco Foundation after her 12-year-old daughter Coco Lazenby was killed in a car accident in 2015. One of the nonprofit organization’s first projects was sponsoring a grove in the Forest of Nisene Marks, where Coco liked to play and explore. Now, the foundation has partnered with Friends of the Santa Cruz State Parks, taking third-graders from Santa Cruz County on field trips to Nisene Marks to see redwoods, and banana slugs, firsthand. Each student gets a book about trees to take home — and a parking pass to take their families on a return trip.
“Many students said that this field trip was their favorite part of the third grade,” says Pavao, who says Live Like Coco and Friends are planning to take students from five schools next school year.