YouthCaN
In addition to meeting a specific curriculum need,
every project proposed by teachers and students in iEARN
has to answer the question, how will this project affect
the quality of life on the planet? That vision and purpose
is the glue that holds iEARN together. Through participation
in iEARN projects, students develop the habit of getting
involved in community issues. One example of students
working together to make a difference is YouthCaN, a
youth run organization that uses technology to inspire,
connect, and educate people worldwide about environmental
issues. Through a network of conferences, activities
and events, YouthCaN unites environmentally active youth
to exchange ideas about the environment and empower
others to make a difference in their own communities.
YouthCaN is a collaboration between iEARN, the American
Museum of Natural History, and various environmental
clubs and organizations. Following are just a few examples
of how classrooms are involved.
Seeds of Change in Southern Florida
In 1992 after Hurricane Andrew devastated southern
Florida, teacher Rowena Gerber and her elementary class
at Miami Country Day School decided to grow trees to
re-leaf decimated southern Florida communities. At year’s
end, 2,000 trees, each bedecked with a booklet of students’
poems, were donated to hurricane victims. This project
was the beginning of the school’s long-standing
relationship with the Educational Concerns for Hunger
Organization (ECHO) which provides seeds, farm supplies
and training to small-scale farmers and urban gardeners
in developing countries. In partnership with ECHO, the
Miami students began experimenting with growing plants
that are needed in developing countries. They will soon
be providing seeds to farmers in the tropics, among
them the native Florida seminole pumpkin and the amazing
moringa tree which is fast-growing and a rich source
of food, vitamins and medicine.
The kids also grow herbs, and have formed their own
non-profit corporation, Project Hope, which sells plants
and herb-infused vinegars. Through Project Hope, students
are contributing to two solar cooking initiatives in
Haiti, a country that is seriously deforested and where
finding cooking fuel is a daily challenge for many impoverished
citizens. Proceeds from the students’ plant and
vinegar sales help to fund a revolving loan that enables
Haitian villagers to purchase solar cookers; donated
funds also support a solar cooker store and information
center in Port-Au-Prince, the capital city of Haiti.
As part of their studies, each grade at Miami Country
Day School designs and builds solar cookers, from primitive
crayon melters made by the four-year-olds to more sophisticated
inventions designed by fifth graders.
A network of 87 schools in Port-Au-Prince are now implementing
gardening and solar cooking education, having visited
and seen the success of the Miami Country Day School
program. Gerber’s school will work this year with
a Haitian teacher to design food systems activities
and curricula for Haiti. Gerber is also working on ways
to distribute seeds and sprouters (inexpensive plastic
devices used to sprout seeds) to refugee camps and to
needy Haitian communities as a quick and efficient way
to enhance health and food security. These personal
ties to Haitian communities, enriched through visits,
letters, email and picture exchanges, enhance the Miami
students’ agricultural and multicultural understanding.
Miami Country Day School now has a garden for each
pre-K to fifth grade class, along with shared arbor
and green house projects designed by the students. Experiments
and other enrichment activities take place at the nearby
lab of the Abess Center for Environmental Studies. Activities
related to gardening and solar cooking have been integrated
into the curriculum in several ways. Students receive
instruction in science and social studies through working
on food systems, and the Florida Solar Energy Center
curricula on solar energy and alternative fuels ensures
that solar-cooking work is also an in-depth science
exploration. Nutrition, biology, Florida history, Haitian
culture-many other subjects have come alive.
“ It has been rewarding to watch the children
learn and to listen to their insights and discoveries-their
hand’s on, nose-on, mouth-on, and both-feet-in
approach to this thing we call science.” Gerber
notes. For the last five years, student gardeners, designers,
and engineers from Miami Country Day School have presented
their work at YouthCaN, an international gathering of
young environmentalists at the Museum of Natural History
in New York City. The school is working on a curriculum
guide to document how Gerber’s activities with
students address the national and state standards.
Perhaps the most valuable aspect of the program is
that the students learn the feasibility and value of
making a postive difference in the world. As Gerber
notes, “They are genuinely doing something to
help other people, and that makes them feel good. When
they sell vinegar, it’s something that they have
done from scratch: they’ve grown the plants, they’ve
made the labels, they’ve made the whole thing.
It’s not like selling chocolates for a good cause-here
they can see how their own efforts and ideas can benefit
other people.”
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YouthCaN
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