Youth Environmental Education Programs – Sharing the Joy of the Outdoors
Equity and Education Manager, LaKyla Hodges, energetically jumps into youth programming with both hands, feet, and…. Wings? One of the popular lessons this fall with after-school groups included an outdoor game based on monarch butterfly migration. While learning about conservation and other topics in environmental education, youth participants were able to get moving and enjoy time outdoors.
Ongoing Education Programs
“Consistency and relationship-building are key to creating a healthy learning environment and fostering positive experiences,” says LaKyla. “With this in mind, we have focused on weekly programming with the Burton Street Community Center in West Asheville and YMCA Horizons program. Having a consistent presence with these programs through the summer and after school has increased enthusiasm among program participants and community partners. It allows participants to feel safe and comfortable with our organization. This trust also helps open doors to connect with other communities that face social and economic challenges.”
LaKyla has developed engaging lesson plans that center on tenets of SAHC’s conservation mission – protecting habitat, clean water sources, farmland, and places for all people to enjoy outdoor recreation.
“I enjoy providing thematic environmental education lessons on conservation,” says LaKyla. “For example, this summer we focused on lessons on compost, planting, the water cycle, and botany. During the fall, we have been focusing on themes such as monarch migration, indigenous gardening practices, and plant life cycles. Youth participants enjoy having hands-on learning experiences where the subject can be seen in real-time. We’ve led a hands-on activity to simulate the difficulty of cleaning up water pollution, ran around outside during a monarch butterfly migration game, and explored artistic leaf rubbings to help familiarize participants with the structure and function of plants.”
In addition to intensive, regular schedules with a few youth education partners, LaKyla is excited to continue periodic drop-in programming and collaborations with partners throughout the region.
“We look forward to hosting more outdoor recreation programs to explore other SAHC-conserved spaces,” she adds.
REI Cooperative Action Fund Grant
SAHC was awarded a $10,000 grant from REI Cooperative Action Fund, and LaKyla is excited about exploring opportunities for community-oriented events and outdoor experiences, made possible with this funding. The REI Cooperative Action Fund is a community-supported public charity bringing together the collective strength of the community to support organizations that are improving the well-being of all people through time outside. The REI Fund announces new investments each year in the spring and the fall to provide unrestricted funding to nonprofit partners across three specific areas: connecting people outside, creating space outside, and centering health outside.
