Engage
Living Classrooms of the National Capital Area Partnership HQ / Fish and Aquatic Conservation Program, Virginia In May of 2011, the Fisheries Program and the Living Classrooms of the National Capital Region (LCNCR) signed an MOU to engage youth in hands-on outdoor learning experiences. The MOU builds on the relationship with LCNCR that was established in co-sponsoring the annual Nation’s River Bass Tournament which introduces over 300 urban youth annually in Washington, DC; Maryland; and Virginia to the vast and historic aquatic resources of the Potomac River. Participants are provided the opportunity to fish with professional bass fishermen and Service volunteers. For the fourth year, Service staff provided educational materials and instructions at three expo booths and provided hands-on instruction in fishing, introducing the sport as a gateway to the great outdoors. TEDxYouth@Shepherdstown HQ / National Conservation Training Center, West Virginia TED is a non-profit dedicated to sharing ideas worth spreading. Originally conceived in a conference format with two sessions per year that involved talks from inspiring leaders lasting no more than 18 minutes, TEDx was designed to give communities, organizations, and individuals the opportunity to stimulate dialog at the local level. NCTC collaborated with two West Virginia Rotary International Clubs to bring TEDx to the Service, for live and taped TED format talks focused on the theme of Connecting Youth to Nature. The ultimate goal was to inspire youth to directly engage with nature, educating themselves about environmental issues and to consider an active lifestyle enjoying and conserving nature. One hundred high school students from five regional institutions participated along with their teachers, parents and Rotary officials. The live talks were professionally videotaped at NCTC and posted on the TEDx website with the potential to reach a wide youth audience. To learn more: www.tedxtalks.ted.com/browse/ talks-by-event/tedxyouth-shepherdstown
Natural Leaders Network Legacy Camp HQ / National Conservation Training Center, West Virginia In partnership with the Children & Nature Network’s Natural Leaders Network (NLN), the Service funded a one-week “legacy camp” that provided 24 youth “natural leaders” with communications, community service, and outdoor skills training. Participants were then required to develop an action plan for encouraging people to experience, appreciate, and protect the outdoors in their home communities. Each action plan included activities such as an outdoor service project, a Let’s Get Outside event, and a leadership
training workshop. The Natural Leaders Network brings together individuals, organizations, and communities, in a non-partisan, inclusive, peer-to-peer network focused on peer-to-peer communication, diversity in nature, and outdoor green jobs.
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