After a whopping six years of implementing Grades of Green Activities, Franklin Elementary School in Santa Monica is continuing their path to environmental sustainability by hosting an informative assembly for their kindergarten and first graders. Franklin Elementary Youth Corps Eco-Leadership Program students Felix, Averie and Kiera gave an assembly with the Grades of Green team to teach students the 4 R’s, how to pack trash free, and how to sort their lunchtime waste! After the assembly, students we able to practice their lunchtime sorting, and “super sorters” were rewarded with a raffle ticket that they could exchange for prizes.  Special thanks to Franklin Elementary’s Grades of Green Team for contributing to the school’s long history of implementing Grades of Green water activities such as the water reduction challenge, earth activities such as display cases, and waste activities such as litter monster, trash free lunches, and campus composting! Interested in learning more about the Youth Corps Eco-Leadership Program? Click here to read about all the students and the Grades of Green Activities they are working on this year. Interested in implementing Grades of Green Activities at your school? Find out how by clicking here!

 

The 2016-2017 Youth Corps Eco-Leadership Program is in full swing and despite a weekend of record rainfall, our awesome student leaders came together at Loyola Marymount University for their Winter Meet –Up! With their Grades of Green Activity in mind, students discussed ways to enhance and further develop their Activity with their fellow Youth Corps peers and Grades of Green Advisors. This Meet-Up also included a mindful activity in which students wrote “postcards to the earth”, thanking Mother Nature for her many underappreciated gifts. Elementary students created posters to promote their Grades of Green Activity at their school, and middle school students crafted individualized elevator pitches to practice introducing their Activity to people in their school community. The Meet-Up concluded with a presentation from Patrick, a volunteer with the Ballona Wetlands who taught students about the importance of wetlands and the history of the area. Special thank you to the LMU CURes department! To check out photos from the Winter Meet-Up, click here! Interested in learning more about the Youth Crops Eco-Leadership Program? Click here to read about all of the students and the Grades of Green Activity they are working on this year.