Resilience in Uncertain Times

As schools officially close today, we remember that every storm has a silver lining. Though we face uncertainty, we are all in this together.

Right now we are being given the opportunity to unite together as a global family while acting locally for the good health of ourselves and our neighbors. We are reminded that we all share this Earth, together. And what we do determines our destiny no matter the direction the wind blows.

At Spark-Y, we provide the opportunities that allow youth to discover sustainability. Central among a variety of skills, our youth are learning how to grow food (including year-round in cold climates), how to reduce unnecessary waste, and even how to create resources from their waste streams. At the heart of much of what we do at Spark-Y is helping youth to remember they are strong, resilient, and capable -- no matter what life brings. This is empowerment.

We can all remember and embrace this empowerment message right now. We are striving to find the balance between the real risks, while not becoming overwhelmed with the challenges. As spatial distancing ramps up, there are further unknowns about how long it may last, and how sustainable the length can be. We commit to being proactive -- and staying cool, calm and collected. We will help those affected. The education of our youth must continue with excellence, the production and growth of food must stay stable, and our economy must stay strong. We can and will find ways to safely operate and navigate together. And yes we ALL have a part to play.

With this in mind, and in light of COVID-19 and the closing of Minnesota schools, Spark-Y is dedicated to serving the state community in an expanded capacity. Our team will continue to provide youth empowerment programming through innovative ways together with our school and community partners. We will also be available to our community as a resource for sustainable, resilient steps you can take at home, work, or with your kids during social distancing and while following health guidelines.

From now into the foreseeable future, Spark-Y is committing effort to the following, starting with our current school and community partners and campus systems and spreading from there:

• Virtual options: Our incredible sustainability educators are mobilizing to provide online content for youth in our programs, and webinars in partnership with our partners. We will also be providing training for our partners on how to execute online instruction.

• Drop site kits: Our team is mobilizing hands-on education kits that youth and youth/parents together will be able to use at home for education with useful results.

• Helping Twin Cities residents grow record amounts of food locally this season led by youth: Our Plant Sale will be focused on “resilience gardening,” helping those new or seasoned gardeners navigate the best plants and seeds to grow for high-yield food production in small or limited growing spaces - (stay tuned for venue and social distancing updates on the May 2nd Plant Sale). [Update: We are now hosting an Online Plant Sale with curbside pickup, including Resilience Gardening Kits. Full details on our event page, here.]

• Resilient and antifragile mindset: We will be embedding much of our curriculum with self-sufficiency, growing food at home, and other topics designed to empower young people in uncertain times.

We will keep you posted as more methods and practice come to light to help the center of our future - our youth. We must remember to honor and listen to their voice in this process.

We would like to thank and support the continued efforts of our teachers, healthcare, and other service professionals. We will look to you for guidance and inspiration in this time. We pledge to help and protect your kids, and do whatever it takes to keep you safe on the front lines.

While we all might prefer this to be a sprint, we are strategically positioning for a marathon. Let’s continue to take excellent care of one another, and be a light for each other when all others go out. The shorter our marathon gets, the more we can rejoice.

We welcome anyone who wants to join us in these activities, please reach out if you would like to help or connect with resources or solution-oriented thoughts:

Online: spark-y.org/connect
Instagram: @sparkyorg
Facebook: SparkYouthActionLabs

Let's do this - together.

Thank you,
Zach Robinson, Executive Director

The Growing Power of LEEF

The following blog post was written by Sarah Pilato,
Lead Sustainability Educator on Spark-Y school program partnership with Edison High School.

Two years ago, Spark-Y began an exhilarating new program in collaboration with Edison High School called the LEEF Pathway. LEEF (Leaders in Environmental and Entrepreneurial Futures) is a pathway that Edison students can choose to follow throughout their high school career which will allow them to gain knowledge that is necessary on their journey towards graduating, in a way that is innovative and experiential.

The idea was born from the successes of already established programs and from the hearts of our Spark-Y team that saw what a meaningful impact these programs were having on the Edison community. Students involved in previous years programming showed extremely high interest in the hands-on nature of the projects and increasing engagement and attendance as the year went on. What Spark-Y was able to create was an environment that catered to students who learned by doing. Activities, labs, and independent projects that have real-world outcomes are the cornerstones of our programs and we knew we had to find a way to expand those opportunities to include more students.

When the idea of LEEF was just budding (pun intended) it included our existing environmental science class known as EASYpro (Edible Agriculture School Yard Professionals) and LEEF Biology. Students taking these classes were using aquaponics systems to learn about plant and fish biology and ecosystems; gardens and greenhouses to learn about entrepreneurship and population studies; vermicompost to learn about closed-loop cycles and decomposition. Edison High School has so many amazing resources as a part of their Green Campus and not allowing students to utilize and learn from them would be a wasted opportunity. It is our goal to integrate these and other systems (such as the solar roof and rainwater catchment) into as many LEEF classes as possible since they provide such a wonderful hands-on way of showing how what’s learned in school can apply to real-life scenarios.

Lead Sustainability Educator, Sarah, teaching a group of EHS staff and students about the school’s aquaponic system, which was designed and built by EASYpro students.

Smaller scale aquaponic systems that are used in LEEF biology throughout the year.

Our pilot year of the LEEF Pathway seemed to be off to a great start! Students were excited and engaged, more and more were wanting to enroll in LEEF classes, and expansion of the program was becoming not only realistic, but necessary. It was time for us to really start sprouting!

The last two years have seen a lot of growth within the LEEF Pathway. What began as a simple pilot with just two classes now reaches across many departments at Edison High School. In addition to environmental science and biology, Spark-Y now collaborates with the science department in physics and chemistry; we have helped develop an environmental art class; and have begun a special education collaboration in addition to several other opportunities. (See the full list below if you are curious about all of the classes that Spark-Y partners with at Edison.)

EHS junior Ramel, and senior Fartun measure bamboo to be cut for pollinator houses

I feel so fortunate to have been a part of this process since the beginning. I spend much of my working time directly in Edison and get to see and work with many of the students currently going through the LEEF Pathway. Current EHS senior, Fartun, who took environmental science during first semester told us that it was her favorite class she’s taken this year because she loved working in the aquaponics lab rather than sitting at her desk all hour.

It is also very exciting for me to be the driving force behind some of the program expansions. This year is our first year of programming within Edison’s special education department and is probably the most fun I have with a class all week long. DCD teacher Ross Porter has opened up about the growth he has seen in his students this year saying “it’s extraordinary how excited they are to participate.” It’s clear to see that even small activities make a huge impact when students feel included in their community.

EHS students Kinnicki and Abdullahi harvesting pea microgreens that their class had grown.

My hopes for the future of the LEEF program are that we continue to find innovative and empowering ways to meet students where they are at. I hope to use this pathway to reinvigorate a love of learning in students who feel that they don’t fit perfectly into the current education paradigm, and to further encourage those who have already found their passions in life. I truly believe in this program and believe that it is an environment any student can feel successful and empowered in.

LEEF Pathway classes at Edison High School:

• LEEF Biology

• LEEF Chemistry

• LEEF Physics

• EASYpro

• Art and the Environment

• Special Education: DCD collaboration

• EEA (Edison Entrepreneurship Academy)

• Global Communities

• Career Readiness

• Work-Based Learning

• Credit Recovery

• EHS Green Team

Building a Growth Mindset at Best Academy Middle School

The following blog post was written by Andi Twiss, Spark-Y Sustainability Educator, on our school partnership with Best Academy Middle School.

Spring semester just started up at Best Academy Middle School and students are happily back in the classroom and reluctantly recalling what was learned during the previous semester. As the primary classroom teacher of these 120 students, we have learned so much already and there is so much more to learn.

The 2019-2020 school year is the first year Best Academy Middle School (BAMS) has partnered with Spark-Y and it has been a partnership of growth and opportunity. That is one of the primary themes reinforced to scholars at BAMS in each of their classrooms: a growth mindset. Throughout the hallways you'll find posters reminding students to be aware of a closed mindset and push towards a growth mindset. It's no different for us at Spark-Y.

Programming is a little different here at BAMS than with other Spark-Y school partners. Traditionally, a Sustainability Educator like myself would partner with teachers in an existing school classroom. Here at BAMS though, I am a primary resource for science education and operate closer to a traditional classroom teacher. I get to teach these scholars each and every day and Spark-Y gets to be the primary resource for their science education. This has been a partnership of growth in expanding our curriculum, scope, and depth in Life Science and Earth Science themes, and an opportunity to serve new students, enable, empower, and resource a new school, and work our Spark-Y magic in a new framework.

As the primary resource, I get to build each lesson around the holistic, sustainable systems design we employ. Instead of fitting our hands-on entrepreneurial-driven activities as a supplement in a traditional classroom setting, we get to build the curriculum around a Spark-Y experience.

One example of how we have built (I mean, literally, built) a robust Spark-Y classroom experience, is 7th grade scholars have built their aquaponics system! They have plumbed it, water is in the tank, and we are planning on fish this month! They submitted designs analyzing the classroom space, put thought in how to incorporate grow bed space for each class period, and excitedly counted down the days until they could get their hands on a chop saw! This final product will be the backdrop for lessons on ecosystem health, population analysis, and even introduction to animal anatomy. They are also hypothesizing ways to sustainably decorate the design and leave their mark as the class of 2021 that built it for all future classes to benefit from.

As for 8th grade, they will be spending the spring semester designing, budgeting, planning, and building raised garden beds for their school. This work will be done alongside their lessons of atmosphere and weather and reinforce the lessons learned on water cycle, erosion and deposition, and soil fertility. The efforts these 7th and 8th graders undertake will provide a permanent staples of a green campus for future scholars at Best Academy and I am so appreciative of their enthusiasm and drive they show knowing they are making a classroom resource. They take great pride in their work and I am thankful for it.

My scholars set New Year resolutions and goals for this semester. Some academic and some personal. Most pertaining to passing classes, turning in work, staying out of detention (although one included "growing taller"). I look forward to next year's group of scholars whose goals will focus on 'mastering material through brand new methods', 'pushing scientific inquiry both inside and outside the classroom', and 'leading investigative studies using the systems developed by students that came before me'.

The growth mindset being instilled in scholars is a great initiative. This mentality paired with Spark-Y's sustainable and entrepreneurial resources has huge potential to fundamentally change science curriculum in this middle school.

This initial year is setting amazing groundwork of a robust curriculum that sustains the entire academic year, going well above-and-beyond state standards. 2020 is off to a great start and I look forward to normalizing this method of teaching and securing future partnerships to the benefit of even more scholars.

To those of you who don't get the privilege of walking the halls of a middle school each day and witness the growth I get to witness, I'll share with you the words from one of the growth mindset posters that serve to remind students that are constantly pushing the bounds of their minds: “Change ‘I just can't do it' to ‘I just can't do it, yet.’''

Why Sustainable Education Is Crucial for the Next Generation

The following blog post was contributed by
established education blogger, Alyssa Abel.

In today’s changing environmental climate, society needs eco-innovation and a sustainable focus more than ever before. Social movements and innovative initiatives are one way to push environmentalism to the forefront of our world, but we have an even better tool at our fingertips — teaching students how to live sustainably.

Today’s educators have a crucial responsibility in terms of sustainability education. It’s essential to raise the next generation into eco-conscious, self-sufficient world citizens who understand the immediacy of environmental responsibility. Youth programs like Spark-Y are embracing hands-on environmental education — and more need to follow.

Sustainability education encompasses all school subjects and extends far beyond the classroom. It gives students real-world skills they can use to improve the planet. It provides today’s children with the self-sufficiency they need for tomorrow. It offers them a deeply engraved understanding of why the environment is important.

Here’s what sustainability education teaches students — and why educational environments should make it a priority.

1. Interdependence Between Humans and the Environment

The environment provides our nourishment, sustenance and shelter, giving us everything we need to survive — and yet its part in human lives is increasingly ignored.

Trees provide lumber, food sources and oxygen, and they support various ecosystems in addition to humans. The water cycle would fall to disruption without them, causing extremes like droughts and massive flooding. And yet forests have declined by 32% since the rise of the industrial era, with 15 billion cut down every year. Deforestation also accounts for 13% of global fossil fuel emissions.

The ocean also makes our survival possible by regulating weather patterns and producing more than 50% of our planet's oxygen. But it has become increasingly polluted with plastic, oil and toxins, killing off the marine life keeping the world afloat.

While modern society too often strays from nature, humanity and the environment are inextricably intertwined — and to prevent further carelessness and damage to our ecosystem, it’s important to show students that. Teaching theoretical environmental science might be a start, but giving children the chance to experience the concept firsthand is infinitely more effective.

Through sustainability programs like Spark-Y’s Urban Agriculture Lab and school partnership programs, students have the hands-on opportunity to explore how humans and the environment sustain each other. Operations Director Caitlin Barnhart explains how working directly with an edible garden space allows youth to “harvest produce, explore the edible landscape, and often have their very first experience with home-grown food.” This kind of firsthand experience allows students to make a physical, profound connection between the environment and their way of life.

Barnhart with her 2019 Summer Interns

2. The Balance Between Environment and Society

Teaching adolescents how to identify environmentally friendly companies — and develop their own sustainable business endeavors — can lead to a more eco-friendly societal future. Consumers of decades past often didn't know how business and production affected the Earth, but that's changing fast.

Sustainability affects the economy as much as it does ecosystems. In turn, modern society has a marked impact on the environment. When it comes to building a better, greener future, business practices are the place to start — which makes sustainability-focused business education like Spark-Y’s LEEF classes (Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Environment, Future) especially important.

Spark-Y Lead Educator, Sarah Pilato

As sustainability educator Sarah Pilato says, hands-on environmental education encourages students to “explore the real world…outside of their classroom and how they as individuals can have an impact on it.” Programs like these teach current students and future leaders the three pillars of ESG — environment, society and governance — so they learn how to balance and approach them in their own futures.

Already, millennial and generation Z consumers are more willing to spend on eco-friendly products. Three-quarters of millennials have changed their buying habits, looking for sustainable products to support the environment. By offering current youth the opportunity to develop an understanding of sustainable entrepreneurial and agricultural practices, educators can make the upcoming generation even more eco-actionable.

3. Sustainable Life Skills

Environmental programs like agriculture labs and sustainable projects encourage students to re-think their relationship with the environment and develop eco-friendly skills and habits for their futures. Kids will learn to grow their own food, conserve resources and choose sustainable products — but early sustainable education can also have a profound impact on their life pathways.

Many colleges are now offering sustainability degrees and majors in related fields. Students who pursue green majors seek careers as biologists, environmental scientists, researchers and much more. Agriculture, energy and manufacturing are popular fields for sustainability, as they are always looking to integrate eco-friendly processes. Giving kids a head start with early sustainable education will do more than instill sustainable life skills — it may also help prepare them for successful careers.

With an interest and career path in environmental studies, students can open green businesses, join eco-friendly companies or influence existing organizations to revise their current strategies. Sustainable initiatives like Spark-Y’s project-based internships develop leadership abilities, stress the value in collaboration, enhance communication skills and drive sustainable thinking — potentially inspiring students to pursue sustainable careers of their own.

Images: Spark-Y Microgreens grown by youth for sale to local co-ops, restaurants and CSAs. Youth designed and built the timber-frame aqauponic growing tower.

4. Respect for the Planet

Earth is the only home the next generation has — and learning more about it is essential to keeping it alive.

Respect for our planet means learning its history, functions and what it needs to prosper. What children learn in school shapes them for the rest of their lives. Starting early with sustainable education teaches kids why the environment is important, how it should be treated, and how they play a crucial role in the future of its existence.

Increased respect for the planet means less littering, polluting and wasting of resources. It means more sustainable habits and efforts to conserve resources. More than anything, it means a mindset rooted in commitments to environmental change — a mindset that is cultivated and solidified early on.

5. Future Preparation and Adaptation

Today's planet won't be the same only decades from now. Predictions don’t bode well, but education can both prepare students for future changes and give them the tools to prevent further damage. If teachers, professors and parents educate their students now, we'll give them the ability to survive in an unknown future landscape. More importantly, today’s students may go on to become future scientists, researchers and activists who will work to protect our resources.

Environmental education equips students to navigate a changing environment with the proper knowledge of self-sufficiency, science and conservation.

Creating a Better Future

Before their involvement in a Spark-Y program, only 41% of students believed they had the power to affect change. After their experiences with hands-on environmental education, 94% believed they could change the world. Wouldn’t it be something to see that initiative reflected in schools and programs across the nation?

The world is changing — and with it, we need to change our approach to the world. By emphasizing environmental themes and sustainability education in schools, we can do more than give the next generation the tools they need to take on environmental change — we can give them a better future.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alyssa Abel is an established education blogger with a special interest in new learning methodologies. Read more of her work for students and educators of all levels on Syllabusy.