Local Kid Goes Global
It never ceases to amaze me every time I hear students speak about their community and environmental involvement, how incredible these kids are, and what a difference they have made in their communities. I want to share with you about one student’s amazing commitment to her community and the environment.
I first met Grace, a 14 year old high school student, when she spoke at our regional Earth Day celebration on April 22. Grace has been involved for several years with FrontRange Earth Force, a local community service organization and she recently represented the United States and her community in Brazil at an environmental conference for kids age 12-15!
FrontRange Earth Force, in Denver, works with teachers in local schools and advisors in community organizations to bring hands-on, youth-driven learning to their students. They help these committed educators and advisors combine service to the community with classroom learning (“service-learning”) to better illustrate important academic, social and personal lessons to young people. Through FrontRange Earth Force, young people get hands-on, real-world opportunities to practice civic skills, acquire and understand environmental knowledge, and develop the skills and motivation to become life-long leaders in addressing environmental issues.
A couple of weeks ago, Grace traveled to Brasilia, Brazil to participate in the Children and Youth International Conference – Let’s Take Care of the Planet. The conference was sponsored by Brazil’s Ministry of Education so kids from all over the world could focus on global socio-environmental problems and climate change.
If anyone ever wants to see how successful community service programs are, all they have to do is meet a young woman like Grace whose experiences have benefitted her, her local community, her country and the world.
About the author: Wendy Dew has been with EPA for 13 years and is the Environmental Education and Outreach Coordinator for Region 8.
Editor's Note: The opinions expressed in Greenversations are those of the author. They do not reflect EPA policy, endorsement, or action, and EPA does not verify the accuracy or science of the contents of the blog.
This is a very good awareness for kids to protect their environment.
The youth should be more aware of their environment because they could contribute more on protecting it in the future.
This is what young people need more of… I have a website I just put up to Help our Gulf..
There you can find links to charities that support musicians, like me.
As a former school teacher, it is great to hear that kids like Grace are embracing community service programs. There really is no better lesson!
The program in Denver is a great program. Its all about getting different agencies outof their individual salos and coming together, working together on common conerns. And it benefits the communihty and the participants. We need more such programs across the country, especially now when budgets for schools, libraries, and other educational institutions are being severely cut back. Best wishes, Michael E. Bailey.
As a former school teacher, it is great to hear that kids like Grace are embracing community service programs. There really is no better lesson!
As a former school teacher, it is great to hear that kids like Grace are embracing community service programs. There really is no better lesson.