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(60) Building Environmental Youth Leadership for High-School Youth: A Model Program and Curriculum
Rebecca L. Meyer, University of Minnesota Extension, Cloquet, MN
Session: Concurrent session C5: Youth
Extension must not forget our young citizens in this emergence of increased thirst for knowledge and a greater need for help in making informed decisions. For example, David Koppel in a July 22, 2007 NY Times article cited a 25 percent increase since 1998 in camps specializing in marine biology. He quoted Peg Smith, the director of the American Camping Association, who claimed “Kids today want to tackle problems and be part of the solution….” These youth are helping to fulfill the need for help today, and will definitely be those to tackle our future needs.
This presentation will describe the Building Environmental Youth Leadership curriculum and program developed by MN Extension staff through Minnesota’s Lake Superior Coastal Program support. Over the course of two years, these educators worked in collaboration with Duluth MN youth agencies to engage high school students in model service-learning projects. Students in these groups learned the foundations of good leadership through discussion, reflection, team and mission building. They selected and completed environmental restoration projects within the St. Louis River estuary in northern Minnesota. The program has since been extended through a Green Team model MN 4-H after school program. It has served as resource for teachers and other natural resource professionals.
Lessons planned and insights gained from the model process have been compiled in a curriculum guide available at www.lakesuperiorstreams.org. The first part of the guide defines and details key components of the service-learning process. Narrative lesson plans focused on team/mission building and action planning comprise part two. When combined with existing natural resource studies or additional curricula, these provide teachers, youth leaders and families an effective structure for supporting youth in tackling problems and leading the way to solutions.
Rebecca L. Meyer
University of Minnesota Extension
Regional Center, Cloquet
179 University Road
Cloquet, MN 55720 USA
Phone: 218.726.6467
Fax: 218.879.0857
E-mail: meyer178@umn.edu