12 Days of Christmas: Help Friends of the Everglades give exploration kits to classrooms
How old were you when you first learned about the importance of Florida's Everglades?
One regional environmental organization fighting to restore the River of Grass hopes to increase the caliber and depth of Everglades education for students. And you can help.
The Stuart-based nonprofit Friends of the Everglades recently developed an "Everglades Learning Exploration Kit" for elementary students, according to Executive Director Eve Samples.
The educational kit includes books, "The Swamp" on DVD, and hands-on activities such as a diorama of a manufactured marsh, called a stormwater treatment area. The kit teaches to a broad spectrum of state standards including science, language arts and social studies, Samples said.
For its "12 Days of Christmas" wish this year, Friends of the Everglades is seeking financial support to expand the pilot project to elementary schools on the Treasure Coast.
With professionally developed and illustrated lesson plans, the kit focuses on:
The life and legacy of Everglades author and advocate Marjory Stoneman Douglas
Species of the Greater Everglades and their dependence on clean water
Water quality and its impact on Florida
"We are dedicated to grassroots advocacy and outreach to safeguard this vital ecosystem. We firmly believe in the power of youth education to advance this goal," Samples said, pointing to the more than 100,000 students reached through the 1990s iteration of their Young Friends of the Everglades program in Miami-Dade County.
"This revival of the program, via Young Friends of the Everglades classroom kits, provides an opportunity to elevate the caliber and depth of Everglades education to students."
Friends of the Everglades was founded in 1969 by Marjory Stoneman Douglas with a mission "to preserve, protect and restore the only Everglades in the world."
Thank you to @RoyalPalmElem for being a pilot school for our new Everglades Learning Exploration Kit! The kit includes four hands-on lessons designed to meet Florida education standards across multiple subjects. #MSDLegacy https://t.co/ffE6GzcMjc
— Friends of the Everglades (@FoEverglades) December 15, 2021
How to help
Who: Friends of the Everglades
Wish: Financial support to bring the Young Friends of the Everglades Exploration Kit to Treasure Coast fourth-grade classrooms.
Cost: $3,000 per school
How to donate online: Visit everglades.org/donate
How to donate via mail: Send checks to Friends of the Everglades, 900 S.E. Federal Highway, Suite 323
For more information: Email info@everglades.org
About this series
Treasure Coast nonprofits that research, protect, restore and advocate for clean water, especially the St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon, need more than holiday cheer to continue their mission. Find out what they need — and how you can help them — to continue their work, as TCPalm.com highlights a different organization each day from Dec. 25 to Jan. 5, the traditional 12 Days of Christmas. Read the previous stories:
Dec. 25: Florida Oceanographic Society
Dec. 26: Indian Riverkeeper
Dec. 29: Environmental Studies Center
Dec. 30: St. Lucie County Reef Builders
Dec. 31: Pelican Island Audubon Society
Jan. 1: Friends of the Everglades
Jan. 3: Environmental Learning Center
Jan. 5: River Kidz
For more news, follow Max Chesnes on Twitter.
Max Chesnes is a TCPalm environment reporter focusing on issues facing the Indian River Lagoon, St. Lucie River and Lake Okeechobee. You can keep up with Max on Twitter @MaxChesnes, email him at max.chesnes@tcpalm.com and give him a call at 772-978-2224.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: 12 Days: Help Friends of Everglades give exploration kits to schools