Youth Leading Environmental Change is a program that engages youth throughout the Annapolis River watershed in environmental education, stewardship actions and leadership development training. Youth have the opportunity to learn how landscape features and functions impact human and environmental health, as well as community wellbeing. Participants reinforce their understanding of these concepts and apply them through a variety of environmental restoration and stewardship activities that positively impact their community and the health of the ecosystem.

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2019 marks the third year of the Youth Leading Environmental Change program. 

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What type of activities are participants engaged in?

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CARP strives to engage youth participants in as many of their current projects as possible. For the 2019 program year, this includes the Wood Turtle Monitoring and Stewardship project, the Fish Habitat Restoration program, storm water management, tree planting, micro-plastic sampling, and a variety of others. There are sometimes unexpected opportunities that CARP is able to involve youth in.

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Program sessions can take various forms, such as group training, field data collection, hands on restoration, event planning, and outreach program delivery. 

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What is required of participants?

Students participating in the program will be expected to:

• Participate in a program orientation session in May

• Senior students* participate in at least 6 field activities between May-September

• Junior students** participate in at least 3 field activities between May-September

• Complete (brief) field journal entries after each field day 

• Prepare and deliver an individual or group presentation about their experience or a topic they have learned about

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* Senior Students (Grade 9-12)
** Junior students (Grade 5-8)

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The Program Leader works with students and their parents to develop a field schedule that accommodates participants’ schedules as best possible. 

When does the program take place?

The 2019 program will run from mid May through the end of October 2019. Presentations will be scheduled in the Fall (or as opportunities present themselves). 

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Program times - During the school year, activities will be scheduled for after school hours. Once summer holidays commence, activities will typically take place during the normal work day, between 8:30 AM and 4:30 PM. Additional weekend program may also be offered. 

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The project leader will aim to offer weekly programs on a consistent day and time, but there will be opportunities that fall outside of this scheduling. In some cases scheduling must conform to external forces, such as the tides!

Program benefits

Participants will:

• learn a variety of transferable skills related to science and field biology;

• enhance and demonstrate their communication and leadership skills;

• actively contribute to the ecological health of natural ecosystems in their community;

• complete volunteer community service hours that can be counted towards academic and extra-curricular program requirements (eg. Duke of Edinburgh).

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