Cascades Climate Challenge

Cascades Climate Challenge

youth become leaders in climate change education

Cascades Climate Challenge is a tuition-free program dedicated to turning today's youth into climate change leaders for communities in the Pacific Northwest. North Cascades Institute conducts the program in partnership with North Cascades National Park and Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.

Students spend three weeks in an immersive field session in the North Cascades learning about the science of climate change, outdoor skills, personal leadership and presentation skills. Students gain knowledge, motivation and skills to talk about climate change, public lands, and their relevance to their home communities.

Teachers: We're excited to offer a free Climate Challenge Teacher Training August 10-14, 2012 at the North Cascades Environmental Learning Center. Visit http://ncascades.org/signup/programs/climate-challenge-teacher-workshop for details and application.

Fall Service Projects

Upon returning home, students design and implement a service- learning project in their home community teaching others about ways we can address climate change. Many service projects will involve teaching lessons in climate change to local elementary or middle school students and then leading them in a service project outside.  Below are some examples of successful student service projects.

• Eight students from Astoria, Oregon are working in conjunction with the Lewis & Clark National Historic National Park to host sustainability fairs for the local middle schools.
• In Pendelton, Oregon, students taught a series of three forty-five minute lessons to a local fifth grade class on subjects like the greenhouse effect, weather versus climate,  renewable and nonrenewable resources, carbon footprints, and local and world effects of climate change.
• Chris E. hosted a nationally distributed electronic field trip with the National Park Foundation and North Cascades National Park.
• In Bellingham, Jessica A. and Ganiv K. worked with students from Squalicum High School to undertake a Cool School Challenge energy audit of their classrooms.

Youth Leadership Conference

North Cascades Institute, in partnership with Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest and North Cascades National Park, hosts an annual Youth Leadership Conference at the North Cascades Environmental Learning Center in November. The conference is open to 10th, 11th and 12th graders and college freshmen who have participated in stewardship programs on public lands in the Pacific Northwest. Sixty youth participate in the conference aimed to provide tools for students to build their awareness, learning, inspiration and engagement to help equip them to take action towards conservation. The conference was created to facilitate increased engagement through repeated and new experiences, offer leadership training and workforce development opportunities.

2012 Application

You can download the 2012 Cascades Climate Challenge application via the sidebar to the right or by clicking here.