The UA SEEC Program aims to increase interest in science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics (STEAM) and social science among low-income and under-represented minority K-12 students in Title I schools within the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD). The SEEC program, part of the University of Arizona’s (UA) Community and School Garden Program (CSGP), gives TUSD students and teachers the resources and opportunity to connect with community scholars performing cutting-edge, ongoing environmental research through citizen science programs, community grants, guest lectures, training programs, and more. In order to have a successful program, it is pertinent to be able to connect students with the people and citizen science programs that can have tangible outcomes, concrete examples of place-based environmental knowledge, and sustainability. The SEEC Program will connect its students and teachers to the USA National Phenology Network (USANPN) and Nature's Notebook (NN) as a way for them to formally participate in citizen science projects, establish scientific questions, methods, and means of data collection, and analyze their results. The USA-NPN and NN will help the SEEC Program establish low-maintenance educational tools, long-term connections within a school system, accessible data, and local connections with their surrounding environment, which can result in increased interest, understanding, and commitment to the environment, STEAM, and social science fields for years to come. TUSD students, staff, and SEEC Program staff and interns are observing with Nature's Notebook.