Programs

Natural resource science and youth leadership development programs

    After-School

Our 4-H Youth Development programs are designed for middle and high school students.

Our academic message focuses on the points of harmony and conflict between the natural and build environments and how wildlife, water and natural plants and trees have a vital role within our greater ecosystems. We strive to demonstrate how we can create more harmony, how "science" happens in our own back yard, and our ability, through stewardship, to have a positive and sustainable impact on our eneivornment and our community. 

W3 youth examine how active bacteria break down waste at the Willow Lake Wastewater Treatment Plant, and hold the noses due to the odor. Below, students examine amphibians as bio-indicators in W3 class.

Our Learning objectives: (click for more information)

Wildlife, Watersheds, and Whatnot (W³) is an after-school class geared towards service-learning through environmental education and connecting youth with natural resource specialists. W³ includes over 100 hours of instruction and service learning with students earning at least a 1/2 high school class credit, depending on their school. Youth Enviro Squad (YES) is a less commitment open to more students with greater emphasis on service-learning than W³, with events ranging from 15 to 70 participants. SHIP³ (Leadership, Stewardship, Partnership) is an advanced class for youth who have demonstrated leadership potential and environmental stewardship. These students help plan YES events, mentor at-risk and program peets, and develop community outreach programs. SHIP³ is the primary step to participation in Caretakers for the Environment International (CEI) - United States Branch, Oregon Chapter.

Our Broader Messages to Students: (click for more information)

Our career message is that there are many job opportunities within the natural science-agriculture-forestry-technology field within a 60-mile radius that will have profound influence on how we sustain our world for future generations.