On Feb. 11 and 12, four Cordova youth traveled to Anchorage to participate in Alaska Forum on the Environment. The students re-united with four Copper Basin students (from Slana, Gakona, Copper Center and Kenny Lake) with whom they shared an intensive 10-day expedition during the Copper River Stewardship Program in the summer of 2018.
The eight students planned and presented “Linked by the River”, a multi-media presentation on how shared wilderness experiences encourage camaraderie, mutual understanding and a stewardship ethic.
AFE is a statewide meeting attended by hundreds of people, including agency representatives, tribal leaders, businesses and educators. As well as inspiring keynote speakers, a multitude of tracks give everyone a chance to learn and connect on topics as diverse as marine debris, disaster response, climate change and alternative energy.
AFE also includes a youth track; we shared meals and laughter with youth from all over the state who also gave presentations on their projects.
CRSP students first started attending AFE in 2010, as it is a wonderful chance for them to connect on a statewide scale. Some of the students also documented their experience and earned college credit from University of Alaska Bristol Bay Campus.
The 30-minute “Linked by the River” presentation used a variety of media and the diverse talents of the students to tell their story. They shared photos and anecdotes from the journey, played videos, and taught the audience an “icebreaker” game to demonstrate the power of laughter to connect. The highlight was a song re-written for the program, featuring all eight stewards singing along with two ukuleles and a guitar. The audience of 75 went away humming and singing, “We had lumps in our throats ‘cause we knew we wanted more time …”
To see a video of the song, visit Wrangell Institute for Science and Environment (WISE) on Facebook.
Funds for the AFE experience were raised at a soup feed in January, when the stewards shared some of their final projects from the CRSP. Families and community members chipped in to help with the expenses of lodging and food, and the Cordova School District and Prince William Sound Science Center provided airline miles for participant travel. Conference registration fees are waived, and many of the meals are provided as part of youth track activities.
For students who would like to embark on a similar adventure, applications will be accepted in March for the Summer 2019 CRSP. We are looking for youth from the Copper Basin and Cordova, or with significant ties to the Copper River Watershed, who want to explore, learn and share with their communities. And they can earn High School credit from Cordova School District. CRSP is presented annually by the CRWP, PWSSC, U.S. Forest Service/Cordova Ranger District, WISE, and Wrangell St. Elias National Park & Preserve.
Robin Mayo is executive director for the Wrangell Institute for Science and Environment at Kenny Lake.
