Introducing: Planting Knowledge
EPNI has a new mission: to bring the youth of East Phillips onto the Roof Depot site and to teach them about agriculture, plants, and ecology. How will we accomplish that? Well, we are creating a new education program that will bring students together in a compassionate and diverse learning environment to explore the world around them with a sense of curiosity and wonder.
Our Education Director, Forest Hunt, utilizes Ojibwe teachings in their lessons, “-I’ve always respected the plants and animals around me like they are my friends. I want my students to feel the same way, like they are meeting a new friend every time I introduce them to a new plant or little insect”. Hunt will be leading the lessons, and with six years of plant science education under their belt and a passion for teaching, they are well suited for the task.
Our new education program will introduce students to plants, animals, and insects and encourage them to catalogue their lessons in their own individualized plant notebook. Students will paint, photograph, and draw their way through each science lesson, utilizing multiple learning techniques to maximize long-term knowledge retention.
The education program will be broken up into three different sessions: Spring, Summer, and Fall. Both the Spring and Fall sessions are after school programs that meet once a week for two months. The Summer session is a summer camp that meets Monday-Friday for two weeks. Each of our sessions will include guest speakers and field trips! We want to ensure that all students have the equal opportunity to attend, so everything is free. From the food to water bottles to sunscreen, we provide it all.
The program is intended only for youth ages 10-18 that are currently residing in East Phillips, Central/West Phillips, Seward, Powderhorn, and Corcoran. We recognize that multiple neighborhoods have been affected by the Arsenic Triangle pollution and we wanted to ensure that all of those neighborhoods were included in our future programming.
As a part of this upcoming education program, we are also opening applications for our Education Aid Apprenticeships, intended for young adults ages 19-24. These apprentices will work directly with our Education Director to train on best practices of teaching in the classroom, perfect for an inexperienced young adult who is interested in going into the field of education. These apprenticeships are paid entry level positions, which will include lessons on teaching and education and experience in the classroom. Each apprentice will work to craft their own hour-long lesson plan to teach to our students. It is a great opportunity to bolster their resumes while they receive valuable job skills!
The Spring session is coming up fast, so be sure to share the opportunity with any youth you may know who will be a good fit. Hope to see you there!
