Educator Resources > K12 Urban Youth Program
In partnership with The Nature Conservancy
LEAF-Leaders in Environmental Action for the Future program
Made possible through a grant from the Toyota USA Foundation
In June 2010, ESA entered into a partnership with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) to support the LEAF-Leaders in Environmental Action for the Future program, designed for high school students in urban areas. The goals of the partnership are: (1) to create a network of high school environmental educators that will facilitate communication and knowledge sharing through online communications and in-person meetings; and (2) to promote careers in the natural resource professions among high school students. The partnership with TNC provides ESA with $70,000 through the Toyota USA Foundation.
This is a historic development for ESA’s Education and Diversity Programs. For the first time, we have a dedicated staff person focused on K12 programs. This will expand ESA’s capacity to serve K12 audiences. It is also a natural extension of our award-winning SEEDS undergraduate student program. Our hope is that many of the students participating in TNC’s LEAF program will move forward to participate in the SEEDS program on an ecological career pathway.
The Conservancy has been working for over 15 years to provide diverse students from environmentally themed high schools with the opportunity to participate in paid, residential internships on Conservancy Preserves across the Northeast. The Conservancy is uniquely equipped to provide access to paid summer jobs in natural areas. They have worked for fifty years to protect over 117 million acres of ecologically important landscapes - the perfect living laboratory for teens to learn about ecology and explore careers in related fields. The LEAF program will provide paid summer internships for students from participating schools to complete stewardship and ecological work on TNC preserves throughout the country.
Click here for TNC’s press release on the Toyota USA Foundation grant
Program Activities
In 2010, the program will reach eight participating schools in the New York and Connecticut area to:
- Provide Travel Awards to high school educators to the ESA 95th Annual Meeting;
- Organize an Information Meeting of Principals;
- Organize two Educator Meetings to assess the needs and status of environmental education and promote exchange of ideas on effective teaching and best practices;
- Organize a Green Jobs Fair to highlight natural resources and conservation careers and college admission processes;
- Select a set of high-school appropriate resources from ESA’s peer-reviewed EcoEd Digital Library;
- Provide scientific review and support of teacher lesson activities.
Other ESA K12 Program initiatives
For more information, please contact:
Lina Oliveros
Urban Education Programs Coordinator
Phone: 202.833.8773
Lina@esa.org
