From 2005 until the Environmental Science Charter was approved this past spring of 2008, a group of parents and residents of the Dobbins and Oregon House, California foothill communities met to find ways to take advantage of the California Department of Education’s Charter Division provisions.

As a result of the community's desire to provide an education and resource center for the environmental and agricultural sciences, the Charter Organization now plans to offer presentations and programs of high-quality, standards-based education which focus on environmental science, including sustainability studies, agriculture, and civic responsibility.

At YESCA (Yes! California...the Yuba Environmental Science Charter Academy) our community passion is the desire to use every available tool at our disposal to provide the educational resources for our children and families to learn about and understand the environmental and agricultural sciences.

As a new public, independent charter, YESCA will broaden the educational resources available to families in the Marysville Joint Unified School District (MJUSD), and to any other California resident who wishes to take advantage of the programs. It will enable students to learn from the distinctive facilities — both natural and manmade — within the Yuba Highlands of the Sierra Foothills. These include mixed conifer forests of the Las Plumas-Tahoe National Forest, local lakes and rivers, and a working organic farm with produce and animals, that will offer children and families a unique range of experiences.

Community service will be a fundamental component of the life of the organization, related to stewardship of the environment and responsibility to community members.

Dr. Lucas Calpouzos
B.S. Cornell University and Ph.D. Harvard University. Lucas spent 19 years administering and leading academic units in two public universities. He was head of the Plant and Soil Sciences department at the University of Idaho for nine years and then served as Dean of the College of Agriculture and Home Economics at California State University, Chico, for eight years.

Paul Mc Govern
Paul graduated from University College Dublin with a major in International Marketing and Finance. He is currently CEO of Database Republic (DBR), a technology consultancy based in Oregon House that develops business process management and environmental compliance applications. He serves as the CFO of YESCA.

Kathleen Stavosky
B.A. and M.A. in English, University of Florida, holds a current California teaching credential and has taught junior and senior high school in public, private, and charter schools in Florida, California, and Germany for 18 years. Ms. Stavosky serves as Secretary of YESCA.

Bruce Helft
Ed.M., MBA Pepperdine University, served as Principal of two preK–8th grade schools in New Jersey and Connecticut during the past 15 years. His doctorate work at Rutgers University is in teacher supervision and curriculum design.

Douglas Binderup
A twenty-year resident of Dobbins and is President of the non-profit public benefit entity, the Dobbins / Oregon House Improvement Foundation.

John Craig
M.A. in English, Northwestern University. Teaching in California high schools and community colleges for 33 years. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and received an Independent Study grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

John Norris
M.S., MBA. 30 years of computer industry experience and is finance chair of the Dobbins / Oregon House Improvement Foundation.

Tom Richards
Long-time resident of Oregon House, Tom Richards is a rancher and significant property owner.

Arthur Craigmill
Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Toxicology, minor in Biochemistry from the University of Minnesota. Since 1980 he has been on the faculty at UC Davis in the Department of Environmental Toxicology, where he most recently developed and taught a general science course on drug use and abuse.