STORY NO.

100

Earth Savers Gang

by rodgers107

Our plan

The idea of Earth Savers Gang was to inspire children ages seven to 12 in thought and action on both an individual and community level by introducing them to six characters called the "earth savers gang." These six characters teach children that they are the worlds heroes and inspire them to take a stand, discover their own unique gifts, and ultimately develop their own character and engaging story line about themselves and their adventures and accomplishments in the world. The goal is to introduce the characters through a short story, short curriculum, and an online social network that can be accessed by teachers and students both at home and at school. The project is meant to give teachers a platform from which to engage kids to take initiative and create a sense of teamwork, acknowledgment and positive peer interaction. Although based on the subject of conservation (the characters are eco-minded), the characters teach lessons leveraging the value system in all disciplines and all educational subject matter. The plan was to inspire kids to be the change in their world, to embrace their own power and develop their experience through their own eyes and their daily adventures. The project was meant to harness the power of one, and thus the power of many. If you have enough children inspired to make a difference they naturally develop and apply the idea of community. Through creativity, critical thinking and applied knowledge, students can engage each other both on and offline in the classroom and at home, inside or outside. The Earth Savers Project creates a forum for kids to express their own goals as well as work toward community achievements. The PLAN is to save the Earth...and teach kids the values that will help them get the job done, all the while enjoying and embracing the challenge as an opportunity to make a difference.

What we did

The project was completed through a book series; with an online social network pilot; using a short curriculum and a series of over 36 interviews. I originally worked with two teachers in two separate school systems and gave them a short curriculum book and a discussion guide. The classes consisted of a fourth-grade group in a suburban catholic school in Ohio, and a second-grade public school class in rural Alabama.

Our results

Teachers are already under a lot of pressure to get through their material, and the new pressure of having to squeeze in additional lessons on environmental conservation can be overwhelming. Through the Earth Savers Gang curriculum it suddenly makes it easy to teach conservation on a basic level — the characters make kids want to engage, and inspires them on many levels. A teacher can easily refer to conservation by referencing the characters and the values and interests that motivate that character in almost any lesson. For instance: Zach Energy Saver is a math wiz! He loves statistics, science, and technology. He's great at inspiring kids who relate to him with their own love of science or technology, and can be used to teach the lessons of conservation. The schools have been helped in so many ways.

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Charles Dickens School
Vancouver, BC, Canada