Each spring the YMCA Earth Service Corps hosts an Environmental Symposium with the goal of educating and empowering 150 high school youth about local environmental issues. The Symposium consists of a series of 40-minute workshops encouraging teens to address local environmental issues through meaningful action. At the request of our youth leaders, we are seeking workshop proposals from our many community partners. YESC youth will review the proposals and make workshop selections based on their interests and passions.
This year’s virtual event will be Wednesday, April 21 from 1:00-4:30. Each workshop will be capped at a maximum of 25 high school students, ages 13-18, from schools throughout the Puget Sound region.
We are seeking skills-based, interactive and engaging workshops for this year’s virtual Symposium that educate and excite youth about an environmental topic while developing a tangible skill they can utilize after the event. Below is a sample proposal and some additional suggestions. Organizations are welcome, and encouraged, to submit multiple workshop proposals. Some workshops may be offered multiple times during the day based on the level of youth interest.
Complete proposals must be received by Sunday, February 28th, 2021.
If you have questions, or would like further information, please contact me at
cwheeler@seattleymca.org or 206.466.1048.
Thank you in advance for your support in educating and empowering local teens as they become a new generation of environmental stewards.
Sincerely,
Chelsey Wheeler
YMCA Earth Service Corps Director
Tips for a Successful Workshop Proposal:
Hands-On Activities:
- Youth are looking for interactive, engaging, and hands-on activities, especially virtually. Make sure your workshop offers lots of time and opportunity for youth to do an activity.
- Several short, engaging activities can make for a fast-paced and fun workshop.
- It’s easy to slip into presentation mode virtually, but resist! Workshops should be activity-
based and interactive.
Break the Ice!
• Planning to do a brief icebreaker or warm up helps get everyone comfortable at the beginning and pave the way for increased participation during the rest of the workshop.
Shake Things Up:
• Some workshops incorporate time or activities away from the screen. For example, taking 10-15 minutes for youth to do a mini trash audit of their kitchen garbage and recycling bins, or to go outside and observe birds or plants in their neighborhood.
Take Action!
• Consider how youth can engage with the topic after the workshop. What skills or actions will a young person be able to take after this workshop? Are they available to any young person regardless to their access to resources? For example, a workshop on civic engagement might encourage participants to contact their legislators, which is available to any young person to do now, in addition to registering to vote, which has age restrictions and is not something that younger participants can do right away after the workshop. A workshop on how to plan a backpacking trip might not be accessible afterward to youth who don’t have access to camping equipment, but one on exploring neighborhood parks to birdwatch or find native plants leaves participants with skills they can apply without needing specialty equipment or transportation.
Sample Workshop Proposal
Workshop Title: Drawn to Nature Workshop Information:
- What is the focus of your workshop?
We will create our own nature journals and then use them! Youth will go outside and explore nature in their neighborhood using different sensory prompts.
- What skills will youth learn or develop from the workshop? How could they use these skills afterward?
Our goal is that each participant leaves the workshop with a completed journal and the skills to lead others in their green team, at school, or with families and friends to craft their own journal from recycled materials at home. We also want youth to leave the workshop with some reflection skills and an avenue to explore their senses and the nature available in their neighborhood. - In what ways would you make it interactive and engaging for youth?
The workshop will include a brief discussion on journaling and reflection, a demonstration of how to make your own journal with time for each participant to create and decorate their own, and time to use their journal outside. They’ll leave with some additional reflection prompts and be invited to consider how they want to use their journal after the workshop.
- What supplies/materials would youth need to participate? Please list as many alternatives as possible to maximize likelihood that all youth will have access to the necessary materials in their homes. Please note if you are willing to mail supplies to participants ahead of time.
Suggested materials (use whatever you have available):
- – 4-8 sheets of paper – one sided, blank, lined, construction paper, etc.
- – Stapler and staples or glue or glue stick
- – 1-2 pieces of thicker paper for the cover – cardboard, cereal box, cardstock, etc.
- – Markers, pens, paint, colored pencils, or other supplies to decorate
- Anything else we need to know?
We would love to host two workshops if there is space for us!
2021 YMCA Earth Service Corps Environmental Symposium Workshop Proposal
Thank you for your interest in leading a workshop at this year’s YMCA Earth Service Corps Environmental Symposium! Completed Workshop Proposals can be submitted to YMCA Earth Service Corps via email at yesc@seattleymca.org. The deadline for submissions is February 28th, 2021.