Green Youth Initiative

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County's (CCE) 4-H Youth Development Program has been awarded a $25,000 grant from National Grid to implement environmental education programs to middle school students. The Green Youth Initiative will be conducted for over 1,200 students in 60 schools throughout Long Island.

The Green Youth Initiative consists of three unique programs. 4-H educators will offer middle school students the opportunity to explore their impact on the environment through a Green Footprints program. The Power of Wind Program is a national 4-H curriculum that explores the use of wind as an alternative energy and encourages youth to see engineering as a career possibility. The Food Project is a garden-focused, hands-on education program with importance placed on timely issues including local food production, diet and its effects on health, waste management, ecology, conservation and environmental sustainability.

"At National Grid we believe in giving back to the communities in which we serve, in particular, in the areas of education and the environment," said Loretta Smith, Director of Corporate Citizenship at National Grid. "Working with the CCE is giving us the opportunity to help train our environmental leaders of tomorrow and further advance our Engineering Our Future initiative to inspire youth to pursue science, technology, engineering and math skills," she added.

Schools interested in participating in the Green Youth Initiative can contact Kelsey White, CCE's Environmental Science Program Coordinator at 631-852-4652.

 

“Program was fun and spoke to the student’s level and explained ideas in ways that made sense to them.”                 
- Educator, Hauppauge Middle School

It was a great way for the students to become more aware about their environmental consequences.”
- Educator, Saxton Middle School

The classes below are part of our new Green Youth Initiative. They are sponsored by National Grid and may be free to some classes. Please call for more information.

Power of Wind Program

(series of 8, 1-hour sessions)

Discover the Power of Wind through a series of hands-on activities that explores the use of wind as an alternative energy and encourages youth to see engineering as a career possibility. The program is designed for grades 6-8 (ages 11-13) and includes 8, 1-hour sessions culminating in a "wind fair"-similar to a science fair featuring wind-related activities and projects. Each classroom will receive a science toolkit, lessons, a complete curriculum, 8-guided sessions and a culminating event.

Power of Wind programs have been very exciting.  Working with students for multiple sessions and seeing what they accomplish has been very rewarding.  The Power of Wind program directly connects students to all parts of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math).

Green Footprints

Grades 4 - 12

What does it mean to "think global and act local"? How can we live more sustainably? Students learn how their personal habits affect the rest of the world by calculating their ecological footprint. They discover what types of behaviors are particularly harmful to the planet and how they can have less of an impact on the natural environment. (1½ hours)

Green Footprints programs have taken place all over Suffolk and Nassau county.  A large number of programs have been completed and student participants continue to share their knowledge about being stewards of the environment with their peers.

 

The Food Project

The Food Project has begun and centers around "The Backyard Farm", a new educational garden at the Suffolk County Farm and Education Center.  The Backyard Farm was designed for the Green Youth Initiative's Food Project.  It offers students an interactive educational facility to connect with sustainable agriculture and understand how it can lead to a healthier lifestyle.  The Backyard Farm includes raised bed gardens, compost display, chicken coop, observational beehive, cold frame and it is connected to the butterfly house.  Hampton Bays Middle School students, girl scout troops, and summer campers have all been a part of the construction.  We are excited to offer schools the opportunity to visit the Backyard Farm and participate in the Food Project!



During a "Green Footprints" program, a student holds blueberries as a Cornell Cooperative Extension educator explains the benefits of eating local grown produce instead of imported for saving waste associated with transportation. All the students have a chance to taste a blueberry! Students throughout Nassau and Suffolk Counties have learned how to reduce their ecological footprint. With the help of a Cornell Cooperative Extension educator, they learn about behaviors that are harmful to our planet and how we can live more sustainably. The program "Green Footprints" is part of the 4-H Green Youth Initiative funded by National Grid. A student shows a sampling of soil and looks for a worm during a "Green Footprints" program. During this environmental program, students learn about composting to reduce our waste and the important role that composting worms play in this process.

 

National Grid is an international energy delivery company. In the U.S., National Grid delivers electricity to approximately 3.3 million customers in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Rhode Island, and manages the electricity network on Long Island under an agreement with the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA). It is the largest distributor of natural gas in the northeastern U.S., serving approximately 3.4 million customers in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Rhode Island. National Grid also owns over 4,000 megawatts of contracted electricity generation that provides power to over one million LIPA customers.

4-H Youth Development, founded in 1902, is America’s oldest youth organization. It is the youth component of the cooperative extension system nationwide. Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County is a non-profit educational agency dedicated to strengthening families and communities, enhancing and protecting the environment, and fostering countywide economic development. Affiliated with Cornell University, and funded in part by Suffolk County government, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County is part of the state and national extension system that includes the land-grant universities and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. CCE’s sites and program areas include Agriculture, Marine, 4-H Youth Development, Family Health and Wellness, Suffolk County Farm and Education Center and Suffolk County Peconic Dunes.