Mississippi 2020 Network, Inc.
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Mississippi 2020 Network, Inc.
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The Growing Good Citizens Program . . . Giving Children the Power of Earth-Centered Knowledge What is the Growing Good Citizens Program?
The 'Growing Good Citizens Program' is a holistic, hands-on, nature-oriented educational program which was created in 1990 by Mississippi
2020 personnel Jamie F. Boyll and Bob Kochtitzky. The program is based on the theories of two
prominent educators - Mr. John Dewey, who believed that children learn best through hands-on experience;
and Dr. Michael Cohen (creator of the national Audubon Society's Expedition Institute masters
degree program) who believed that developing a reconnection with the natural world reduces
apathy and dysfunction, increased motivation for learning and the establishment of more
civilized relationships. The program fosters these two beliefs by weaving three interdependent elements:
The combination of these three elements, and the opportunities provided by the integration of the
Growing Good Citizens
Program in the school, draws on the unique gifts of each child to discover and practice new ways to live on our
planet as a caring, conserving and cooperative partner. The framework of the
Growing Good Citizens Program
creatively rejoins the long separated world of classrooms with the realities of the world and shows children
that they can make a difference. Academic activities are enhanced by numerous hands-on, real world activities, and the
campus is transformed into a life laboratory.
A full-time on-site coordinator assists teachers in finding appropriate activities to match the academic lesson
plans at hand - activities which actually reach out into the community and initiate change. The opportunities are
endless, and will always depend upon the community's needs and the interests and abilities of the students.
Projects which have proven to work well in the past include the following:
The goals of the program is developing students with leadership skills - so they will excel academically; who have developed a sense of respect for themselves, others and the natural world; and who have discovered the joy of serving others. This program received national recognition from the National Environmental and Education Training Foundation as the Best Implementation of an Environmental Education Program for its application in Orange Grove Elementary School in Gulfport, Mississippi. We believe that if consistently reinforced throughout a child's educational career, the Growing Good Citizens Program will help to create a whole new generation of self-respecting, non-violent and cooperative adults. Growing Good Citizens Program How it is Implemented In August 2006 we will begin a program of Growing Good Citizens at Jackson's John Hopkins Elementary. Over three years we will engage 235 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students in organic gardening, composting, recycling, litter control, community service, healthy diet, and exercise. The goal is helping students choose a life path that will avoid alcohol, tobacco, drugs, obesity, teen pregnancies, and dropping out of school. The school is first oriented to the program through a training program for the teachers (Growing Good Citizens 14 lesson plan Teacher's Manual ($25 plus shipping)). A series of discussions, the 2020 site coordinator can begin to identify areas of special interests for each teacher, critical lesson plans for certain grades, and take note of any unusual behavioral/achievement issues the school might be facing. Over the first few weeks of school, the teachers will begin to develop the first of many "problems" which the children will be asked to help "solve" through the use of lesson plans in the manual. The creation of an organic garden is the major tool provided to the school. Historically Mississippi 2020 volunteers contribute time and effort to the preparation of the soil for the garden. The students and teachers then plan the garden and tend to it as it grows. A campus composting system is also set up to make food waste produce soil to feed the garden. These initial projects are used as icebreakers, help the children to realize they can effect change through their efforts, even if it is simply growing a tomato from the ground up. As the school year progresses, community outreach projects develop and the students have more of an opportunity to see their efforts from the eyes of others: Projects are written about in the newspaper, friends and neighbors thank them for their hard work; they see the trash barrel they painted in the city park. By the end of the year, the children are contributing more ideas to feed the program. The children turn their campus into a laboratory for life, demonstrating a model for sustainability, human relations, and environmental stewardship for the entire community.
Mississippi 2020 Network, Inc.
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