Calling All Former Young Friends

Connie Washburn and Marta Whitehouse here, trying to track down and see what's up with former Young Friends of the Everglades.

Marta and I had a goal back in the mid 1990's to teach students about and get them interested in our natural environment, most especially our Florida Everglades. One particular year, 1994, we each had a group of highly motivated students. They became interested in a project to build a theme type park practically in the 'Glades, or at least close enough to do severe damage. You guys fought the good fight by making posters, got yourself in the newspaper, raised hundreds of dollars in a 'Global Releaf Walk-A-Thon' and before you knew it, Young Friends of the Everglades was born.

We took a few of you to meet Marjory Stoneman Douglas, then 105 years old. Marjory authored 'The River of Grass' in her little cottage on Stewart Street in Coconut Grove. We asked her what she thought of a children's group, Young Friends of the Everglades. She replied, "Take the children out to the 'Glades and let them learn, education will be the only way to Save the 'Glades. Tell them the Everglades isn't saved yet!"

 

 

You camped overnight, and took day trips to the Everglades, did science projects, planted over 60 trees at Howard Drive Elementary School, and collected 'Pennies for Panthers'. You attended rallies and town hall meetings, and visited Legislators in Washington D.C. You campaigned and saved a hundred-year-old Royal Poinciana tree from being cut down by a developer. You starred in a Nick News television segment (go to Nick News video) about the Everglades, spoke at the C-111 Ground Breaking Ceremony-#4, and produced a play entitled, Kermit Saves the Everglades. Then you attended and performed at an Everglades Coalition Conference. 

You developed slogans like K E E P (Kids Establish Everglades Protection), and put this logo on T-shirts and cloth bags. You wrote articles and poems for our newsletters Everglades Echo.  Many of your wonderful poems and illustrations were published in a poetry book.

The Sierra Club honored Young Friends year after year with the
'Green Award' for children. A five-minute video along with a Public Service Announcement (PSA) has been shown to over 60,000 Dade-County students over the past ten years. Yes, our goal was to 'plant seeds of knowledge' in our students and what happened surpassed  our expectations.

Our dream was to see that all fourth graders could have the opportunity to learn about the Everglades. With the help of Friends of the Everglades, we applied for a DERM (Dade County Environmental Resources Management) Grant to fund an Outreach Program aimed at all fourth graders in the County.

In 1997, we received the first grant, and have done so every year since. Jim McMaster has developed a wonderful one-hour presentation where he engages fourth graders in learning conservation and a bit about the Everglades. The program is so successful that
more than 70,000 fourth graders have benefited from participating in our hour long presentation. Here is a live presentation. 

Both Marta and I are now out of the classroom in Dade County and we'd love to know 'what happened in the lives' of those incredible students we had 'back in the days!'

HERE ARE TWO THINGS WE ARE ASKING OF YOU:

1. Respond to info@everglades.org with what you remember about Young Friends or how something you learned or did has affected your way of thinking or feeling about things. This reflection could be in a sentence or two, a paragraph or an essay. Whatever you'd be kind enough to write. 

2. Please forward this email to anyone you can think of who was involved in the creation and/or the continuation of Young Friends.

Many thanks in advance, and our very best to each and every one of you.

Connie Washburn and Marta Whitehouse