Youth Voice! Youth Power!

Eco Ed's Toxic Tours off to a Stellar Start!

Eco Education's newest program, The Toxic Tour, was inspired and co-created by our Youth Advisory Board.

The Tour will help students:

• See how pollution disproportionately affects underresourced communities and underrepresented communities in Saint Paul and Minneapolis.
• Understand environmental issues around water, soil, and air in their communities.
• See what students can do to improve their environment in Urban Stewards class.
• Understand the resources in their communities that can help them make change.

This is an exciting addition to our programning and is already receiving rave reviews!

Toxic Tours held for Two St. Paul Schools

This week (November 15 and 16) Toxic Tours were faciliated for two of our partnering schools. On November 15, thirteen students from Battle Creek Middle School boarded a bus and went to the following sites:

1. Battle Creek Rain Garden
2. Bruce Vento Sanctuary
3. Jimmy Lee Recreation Center
4. Great River School

At each site, students met with community leaders who spoke to them about the origins of the toxins at each site and the clean-up efforts that were taken to restore the site back to healthy levels.

On November 16, twelve students from River's Edge Academy (St. Paul) took their Toxic Tour to the following sites:

1. Bruce Vento Sanctuary
2. Jimmy Lee Recreation Center
3. Parque Castillo
4. Neighborhood Development Association (previously forclosed home, re-made by NeDA)

Students returned from The Tour inspired to take on an action project  that would address littering in their school community. 

Toxic Tour is tied into Food Justice Curriculum

On February 7, fifteen students from  El Colegio Charter School in Minnepolis went on Eco Ed's Toxic Tour.  They wanted an experience that could fit within their study on Food Justice and Food Deserts.  On a chilly Tuesday morning, they bundled up and went to:

1. CMC Heartland Lite Yard Superfund Site
2. Little Earth Community Garden
3. Walked the Little Earth Food Desert Distance
4. Aldi Grocery
5. Seward Coop

Each student was given $3.00 (which is the amount a person earning a wage at the poverty level has to spend on food each day) and were challenged to buy food at a Aldi's Grocery (a discount retail store) and then spend the same amount at a local co-op.  In addition, they walked the distance between each location to simulate the lack of access to healthy, locally sourced food.  The lessons learned as students reflected on were profound.  Students were inspired by this experience and are in the process of developing a Nutrition, Health and Sports Fair for their community in June.

Eco Ed will host a Toxic Tour at the National Service- Learning Conference in April!

NYLC's National Service Learning Conference will be held in Minnneapolis Aprll 11-14.  During the conference, Eco Ed's staff and YAB members will co-faciliate a workshop on the internal dynamics of being a more inclusive organization. We will also host a Toxic Tour on Friday April 12 from 1:00-5:00pm.  Registration is limited to 55 people so make sure to sign up early!

Eco Ed's YAB Members Invited to be Guest Bloggers

Two members of our YAB, Anna and Johanna were invited to be guest bloggers on NYLC's website to share their work in leading a Social Justice Ambasddador Training at their school. You can read their post here:

http://www.nylc.org/blog/youth-led-social-justice-ambassadors-training

These are truly Leaders in Action!  Kudos to you Anna and Johanna.