Celebrating Earth Month with the Next Generation

My job as the Youth Program Manager at Venture Outdoors – is to get children outdoors, because it helps them in so many areas. It allows them to be physically active. It increases mental and emotional well-being. It allows them to be social. It reduces stress and anxiety. And it facilitates connection to their community.  

Best of all, during this month especially, getting youth outdoors helps build the next generation of nature conservationists. Studies show that young people who make environmental connections at an early age generally continue to be conservation-minded in their attitudes and habits as adults.  

Our students explore the species in their school yards and local parks by using hand-held microscopes, binoculars, and field guides. They learn about plants and growing seeds. They learn about water ecology when learning to fish. They explore watersheds and look at macroinvertebrates in streams.  

In general, our students learn to be curious about the world around them. They begin to slow down and witness the life and environment around them that may not be visible when we are rushing through our day. 

“In the end we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand, and we will understand only what we are taught.”
– Baba Dioum, 1968 

This month, you’ll find our Outdoor Educators engaging kids in environmental education lessons throughout Pittsburgh during our Outdoor Learning Lab programming, Afterschool at Environmental Charter Intermediate School, partnering with Communitopia to run Climate Adventures with local teachers and students, and engaging the public at the Earth Month Event in McKinley Park on Saturday, April 20^th from noon – 3 PM. 

Happy Earth Month! We’ll see yinz outdoors.