January 22, 2025
January.
The start of a new year.
The opportunity to renew our commitment to growth, learning, and making a difference.
It also marks three commemorative dates where we can focus on these three things:
- National Mentoring Month
- Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (January 20, 2025 – National Day of Service)
- International Environmental Education Day (January 26, 2025)
The foundation of Project Learning Tree is learning by doing. It’s in the doing that we grow and can positively impact our environment, our communities, and each other. So, what better way to honor these special days than by giving back? We’ve compiled various activities and resources you can do and share with your learners to inspire them to make a difference.
Dream Big
When you ask a student what they want to be when they grow up, what do you typically hear? Doctor, Lawyer, Engineer, or Police Officer? If these sound familiar, it’s time to introduce students to career paths they may have never imagined. How about Sustainability Officer, Urban Forester, Wildlife Biologist, or Environmental Educator?
PLT has multiple resources to inspire learners to explore careers where they can positively impact our environment. Check out Black Faces in Green Spaces: The Journeys of Black Professionals in Green Careers and Green Jobs: Exploring Forest Careers.
Take it a step further and invite individuals into your classroom or organization to speak with students about alternative career paths, especially those in the forest and conservation sector. We suggest reaching out to PLT’s network of State Coordinators as they often have local connections in these fields.
SFI also hosts an amazing Green Mentor program each year, encouraging seasoned professionals to mentor young adults just starting out in their careers. It’s a wonderful way for mentors to give back and for mentees to learn and grow!
Improve Your Place
When you give learners the opportunity to be creative, great things can happen! In the “Improve Your Place / Mejora tu Lugar” activity from PLT’s Explore Your Environment: K-8 Activity Guide / Explora tu Ambiente: Guía de Actividades K-8, students design a service-learning project that encourages them to make their community a better place. Here are just a few ideas to get the creative juices flowing!
Plant a Garden
Check out these inspirational ideas for creating a beautiful sense of place at your school or in your community. Gardens not only invite pollinators like bees and butterflies, but they are a wonderful way to teach about the life cycle of plants, what they need to grow (“Here We Grow Again / Aquí Volvemos a Crecer”), and even soil structure (“Soil Builders / Constructores de Suelo”) from Explore Your Environment: K-8 Activity Guide / Explora tu Ambiente: Guía de Actividades K-8. When you plant a working garden with vegetables, consider sharing the fruits of your labor with those in need. Connect with a local food pantry about donating fruits and vegetables from your garden.
Plant Trees
Many communities have nonprofit organizations that host tree-planting events. Check out the Arbor Day Foundation’s network of organizations around the U.S. who are dedicated to making a positive impact on our environment by planting trees. This is also a great opportunity to green your schoolyard and create a calming, natural setting for students to enjoy.
Water Watchers
Depending on where you live, you may face different issues with water, including poor water quality or limited water sources. In the new activity collection for middle and high school, Forests, Water & People, students identify a possible forest-related or other “green” solution to a local watershed issue and develop an action plan to carry out such as organizing a river cleanup to protect water quality.
Paint a Nature-Themed Mural
Before putting paint on a wall, check first with your school, organization, or community leadership to see if there is an available wall or building that could use some beautification. Paint a picturesque forest or a babbling brook running through your schoolyard. Work with students to design the mural and bring it to life, watching creativity blossom! Check out Pinterest for some incredible ideas like these:
Design for the Future
Imagine if you could design a community for the next generation. In PLT’s “A Vision for the Future” from Exploring Environmental Issues: Places We Live, high school students develop and present a vision for the future of an area in their community. They identify current issues facing their community and work together to develop possible solutions.
Although this activity holds a mock community outreach event, consider contacting your local city council or town leadership to host a student-led community workshop. Young people are the voice of the future, and if we want more sustainable communities, we should involve them early on. You never know what innovative ideas may come out of this and into fruition!
We’re all presented with the opportunity to do good things. Now is the perfect time to make your resolution to positively impact your community and our planet by helping others learn and grow!
