During the 2015-2016 YES! Season, we embarked on a shared mission with Climate Generation: A Will Steger Legacy to improve climate literacy among YES! students and staff, courtesy of a grant received from The McKnight Foundation. Students and staff were issued a pre and post survey to measure change in an understanding of climate change and how it is relevant to students and their communities,
Summer 2016 Edition of the YES! E-Newsletter
The Summer Edition of the YES! e-Newsletter was recently sent out to YES! supporters. Be sure to check it out here. There are great stories on our excitement about the 10th season of YES!, our new staff and partner, our statewide expansion, the work of YES! teams over the past season, and the YES! awards.
YES! Bids Farewell to Coordinator Sarah Gainey
YES! Coordinator Sarah Gainey bids farewell to YES! as her last day was June 30. We have been fortunate to have Sarah as a part of our staff and wish her the best with her future adventures. Sarah reflected on her time with YES! and shared the following: ‘It’s about leaving a legacy.’ As I listened to a middle school student during the recent Spring Judging give this as the reason why he feels
Reflections on the Climate Generation Summer Institute
By YES! Coordinator Katelyn Larsen Having attended the Climate Generation (CG) Summer Institute in 2015, I went in to the 2016 session with three goals in mind: To network with Minnesota teachers and explain more about the YES! Program in hopes of creating more teams; To understand the Next Generation Science Standards and how they align with the YES! Program; And to gain tips on how to
Cherry YES! Team Reflects on Their First Year
Guest Blog Post by the 2015-2016 Cherry YES! Team It was an interesting year filled with great ideas and strong support from community, non-profits and businesses. Our YES! students ventured in many directions. One group started a fare share coffee program. This included finding a supplier, branding their coffee “Tiger Coffee” and completing taste testing with small groups. In addition, this team
Native Rain Garden Takes Root in St. Cloud
By YES! Coordinator Kristine Madsen Members of St. Cloud North Jr. High YES! Team gathered together 130 6th-8th grade students on May 6 to plant a 9,000 square-foot native rain garden on the school grounds. For the YES! students, the planning of the garden began months in advance of planting day. The YES! students chose the rain garden project because they wanted to beautify the school grounds as