Pajarito Environmental Education Center
Summer Program Helps Children Build Confidence and Cultural Understanding
Twelve-year-old Eva still remembers the day the ceiling filled with stars. Inside a planetarium during summer camp, the planets stretched across the dome, moving slowly above rows of children looking up in awe.
Later that evening, Eva’s younger sister, Remedy, described it again at the kitchen table.
“They were mesmerized,” their guardian, Kathy, says.
Kathy has been raising the girls for seven years. Eva came into her life first. As her godmother, she stepped in when Eva’s young parents struggled to provide stability.
Remedy and fellow campers work together to build a fort.
“There’s no blood relation, but I was there from the beginning,” Kathy says. What began as occasional support slowly became permanent. When Eva was 4, Kathy brought her home. Not long after, she received a call asking if she would also take in Remedy, who was 3 years old and not yet speaking.
“The girls have experienced trauma,” Kathy says. “I keep them in therapy, and I keep them active.”
A former wildland firefighter for the state of New Mexico, Kathy builds their life around the outdoors. Weekends are filled with fishing trips, hikes and swims in nearby rivers. Nature is not just recreation in their household — it is a grounding and healing experience.
When she learned about the new Valley Voyagers summer camp rooted in outdoor exploration and cultural learning, Kathy quickly registered them.
The camp is run by the Pajarito Environmental Education Center (PEEC), an organization that has operated in Los Alamos County and north central New Mexico for 25 years, reaching thousands annually through its nature center and educational programming.
Serving children in Española Valley and surrounding communities, the camp blends environmental education, cultural heritage and science.
The experience quickly became a highlight of the girls’ summer. Campers learn about farming traditions, land stewardship and the generational knowledge that shapes northern New Mexico.
Enterprise Bank & Trust had previously supported PEEC through sponsorship of its Earth Day Festival. When Liddie Martinez, Enterprise’s Community Bank President for the Los Alamos region, approached the organization about creating something with a deep impact for youth in Española Valley, the camp began to take shape.
The program was built with accessibility at its core; fees are intentionally kept low, and full scholarships are available. Enterprise’s support helps cover transportation, meals, staffing, and science and art supplies, ensuring the experience remains both affordable and sustainable. Students use foldable field microscopes during camp and take them home afterward. They receive artist-grade watercolor sets and practice “plein air” painting, inspired by northern New Mexico landscapes.
“The tools aren’t leftover or secondhand,” Beth Sanchez, PEEC’s Education Programs Coordinator, says. “They’re new, durable and something the students can feel proud of. We want them to know they’re worthy of quality.”
Many workers in Los Alamos commute from Española Valley; families throughout the region experience high poverty rates, limited transportation and few enrichment opportunities.
!["[The girls] are learning that they are capable of more tham they realize." - Kathy, Guardian](/sites/default/files/inline-images/CIR25_05_PEEC_Pullquote.png)
“It is not enough to invest only where our building sits,” Liddie says. “We need to invest where our clients and their families live.”
For Kathy, the camp’s impact shows up in everyday moments: a new question at dinner, confidence in their stride, a stronger sense of identity.
“I am so grateful to PEEC and what they’ve done for these children,” Kathy says. “They are learning that they are capable of more than they realize.”