Letter from the Executive Director

Thank you for supporting our August fundraising campaign – we raised over $20,000 and ended our fiscal year in a strong financial position!

We are gearing up for a very busy fall and want to make sure you know about a number of great events we have coming up locally and nationally:

• Sept. 20 - Green Ideas & Ham Breakfast with Don Shelby and Dr. John Abraham
• Sept. 24 - Moving Planet Day of Climate Action
• Oct. 2-6 - Climate Ride in California
• Oct. 27 - The Changing Arctic: International Cooperation and Development Symposium

Our Clean Air Act Defense work will continue this fall. We organized a letter on behalf of attorneys in Minnesota asking Senator Klobuchar to support a strong Clean Air Act, which could be part of Congress’ efforts to weaken it in the Senate this fall.

The Will Steger Foundation has launched an exciting initiative that brings climate change to the local level, here in Minnesota! Minnesota’s Changing Climate (MCC) includes a new curriculum for grades 3-12, an online classroom, educator professional development, outdoor exploration tools, and ongoing support.

Finally, in case you missed our August events, or if you want to experience them again, you can now watch videos from our Summer Institute for Climate Change Education and public forum, Sense of Place in a Changing Climate.

We hope to see you this fall!

Sincerely,

Nicole Rom, Executive Director

Education

Minnesota’s Changing Climate Curriculum and Online Classroom Unveiled!

We are pleased to make available our newest Grades 3-8 and 9-12 curriculum resource and supporting online classroom. We created Minnesota’s Changing Climate because we believe that environmental stewardship and action begins with a local connection and sense of appreciation, or environmental sensitivity, towards the natural environment. It ties Will Steger’s adventures from boyhood to adulthood with engaging content on Minnesota’s natural environment (i.e. biomes) and the impacts of climate change. Explore Minnesota’s Changing Climate online classroom and download the new curriculum.

Visit the online classroom...

Participate in Minnesota’s Changing Climate Project

100 educators from around the state have already joined us on an exploration of Minnesota's Changing Climate during the 2011-2012 school year. The Minnesota’s Changing Climate curriculum and online classroom offer a variety of different ways to engage with the project and extend learning in your educational setting. Check out the Online Classroom's Observations Page to read and view observations by students around the state.  Comment on what you see or Observations: Share Your Own!

Learn more about ways to participate...

Explore Minnesota’s Biomes Kit

Explore Minnesota’s Biomes Kits are available for educators in the metro area to borrow. Biome kits include digital cameras, field guides and other observation tools. Educators may borrow kits for up to three weeks and must agree to use the kit in their classroom and in an outdoor setting with students. In addition, they will be required to share the results of classroom observations and investigations via the Minnesota’s Changing Climate online classroom. Learn how you can borrow a kit.

Stay posted for our new Extreme Weather and Climate Change resource page! The page was made possible through the generous support of the National Education Association and will expand a recent Climate Lessons blog post.

Monthly Climate Change Educator Meet Ups Begin October 4

The Will Steger Foundation will be hosting monthly climate change educator meet ups during the 2011-2012 school year beginning October 4. Meet Ups will be onsite or via conference call every other month. Teachers and educators integrating or hoping to implement climate change in their education setting are invited to stop in for informal discussion and treats 4:00-6:00 October 4.

RSVP if you plan on attending...

Fall Education Conferences – Come visit Kristen & learn about WSF’s education opportunities:

• September 24: Minnesota Homeschoolers Alliance in New Brighton.
• October 12:  The Climate Literacy Network, with WSF, hosts a full day workshop at North American Association for Environmental Education Conference, North Carolina.
• October 14:  Kristen presents Making Climate Change Relevant at the State Level at the North American Association for Environmental Education Conference.
• October 20:  Kristen presents Minnesota’s Changing Climate at Education Minnesota Conference.

Emerging Leaders

Youth Allies Join RE-AMP Annual Meeting

21 Midwest youth leaders from 12 youth organizations/programs joined the RE-AMP Annual Meeting, a gathering of 130 Midwest environmental non-profits and foundations, held in Chicago earlier this month. With an emphasis on movement building and collaboration, the meeting was an opportunity for the regional environmental community to reflect on its impact and grow its capacity through training opportunities, improved network structure, and a more strategic approach to effective grassroots organizing. Youth were active participants in this conversation, bringing new insights and paradigms to share.

YEA! MN Finalist for WedgeShareGrant

We are proud to announce that YEA! MN, a joint program of the Will Steger Foundation and the Alliance for Sustainability, is one of three finalists for the WedgeShare Grant, a cooperative charitable giving program of the Wedge Community Co-op in south Minneapolis.  Funding from the grant will enable us to hire a part-time YEA! MN Coordinator and better empower the program to achieve its mission and goals. Wedge Co-op members, look for a voting ballot in the upcoming October issue of the 'At the Wedge' newsletter.

Momentum Growing for Midwest Power Shift!

Over 1,000 youth are expected to descend on Cleveland State University for Midwest Power Shift, Oct 21-23. The summit will include four tracks focused on coal, fracking, the clean energy economy, and preparing for the 2012 elections. Participants will also engage in grassroots organizing and leadership training, aimed at growing the Midwest youth coalition and preparing youth activists across the region to organize in their states on shared issues. The Will Steger Foundation is proud to partner with the Ohio Student Environmental Coalition, the Michigan Student Sustainability Coalition, Energy Action Coalition, and a dynamic steering committee of youth leaders from across the Midwest, on making this exciting event possible. Registration will open soon.

In The News

Camel

CAMEL is a free, comprehensive, interdisciplinary, online resource for educators to enable them to effectively teach about climate change.

WSF curriculum and resources will be featured on the Camel website.

Read More…

Will Steger Foundation

Press Release: The Changing Arctic

Symposium presented by the Consulate General of Canada, the Will Steger Foundation and the University of Minnesota will explore international cooperation and development in the Arctic.

Read More…

Star Tribune

Letter of the Day (Aug. 21): Moose

Summer Institute attendee, Ellen Hadley recently had a Letter of the Day published in the Star Tribune.

Read More…

Action!

The Will Steger Foundation is partnering with MN350 to organize Moving Planet, this year’s Global Day of Action on September 24th! MN350 Moving Planet will begin at 2:00pm on September 24, 2011 on the State Capitol lawn.

Event includes resource fair (2-3 pm), bike ride and interfaith march. The message: we need bold action on climate change. Moving Planet will be a waste-free event and will feature speakers from policy makers and faith community leaders to local heroes and youth, music by Alicia Wiley, the New Primitives and more.

Moving Planet is hosted by MN350, a collection of organizations and citizens working together to build the climate movement. If you are interested in more information and ways to plug your talents into the movement, visit MN350.org or call 651-402-8901.

Photo of the Month

Watch the recap of our 2011 Summer Institute for Climate Change Education!