CHICAGO WILDERNESS
GRASSROOTS YOUTH OUTREACH
A Program for Children and Young Adults Ages 8 through High School
"Chicago Wilderness Fieldbook, A Passport to Discover Nature's Hidden Treasurers"
Welcome to an exciting, new program designed to reconnect our youth to the joys of nature. Scroll down and you will find the following information that introduces you to a great opportunity for you to become a part of this network of stewards, monitors and youth leaders.
PROGRAM SUMMARY
STEWARD/MONITOR PARTICIPATION-Information
STEWARD/MONITOR-Registration
YOUTH LEADER PARTICIPATION-Information
YOUTH LEADER -Registration
STEWARD/MONITOR NETWORK
SITE STAMPS
Should you have any questions, would like to see a sample of the fieldbooks, or would like to send your registration information, contact Pat Hayes at 708-220-9596 or ptihys@yahoo.com, or any committee member shown throughout the information packet.
CHICAGO WILDERNESS
GRASSROOTS YOUTH OUTREACH
“Chicago Wilderness Fieldbook…
A Passport to Discover Nature’s Hidden Treasures”
PROGRAM SUMMARY
Through local and national observation, it has been acknowledged that there exists a disconnect between nature and children. A volunteer grassroots outreach committee formed to assess what is lacking in a child’s ability to access and bond with nature, and what could be a remedy. Three possible tracks were considered:
It was discovered that much curriculum exists in many different venues, and that the major deficit was opportunity for children to actually bond with nature through purposeful participation in healing or nurturing activities. Children are not being given time or space to wander through natural settings, make observations and raise curiosity, the kind of repetitive play that children from past generations engaged in every day.
The question became, “What does Chicago Wilderness have that other nature-influenced organizations don’t have that can contribute to engaging children in nature?” The answer is the 300,000 acres of protected lands within its parameter, and a network of people, citizen-scientists and stewards, who take personal interest and volunteer to work toward healing and protecting the unique and spectacular qualities of its various ecosystems.
The goal became finding a way to attract the children to these various sites and expose them to the stewards’ knowledge and passion for nature. The passport concept was devised as a method of:
· Sparking interest
· Encouraging hands on participation in activities
· Forming a tangible attachment to the site and the program
· Learning to look at nature with different eyes that focus on identification and assessment
· Encouraging travel from one site to another to experience the diverse aspects of our many ecosystems
· Providing mentoring opportunities that not only transfer knowledge, but a passion for nature’s intricate qualities
· Developing stewardship skills and knowledge
The passports are divided into three age categories, 8 to 10, 11 to13 and 14 to 18. Each book has visual prompts geared to the age level that help the individual develop species identification and biodiversity assessment skills. The primary component of the passport is open space affording notetaking and thought recording opportunity.
Immediate tangible rewards for participation are the passport as a personal journal of nature-based experiences, collection of passbook site stamps and steward signatures in the passbook, and creation of a personal reference guide.
As additional incentives, it is hoped that perhaps participants could receive region-wide recognition such as newspaper announcements of accomplishments, perhaps an article dedicated to them once a year in Chicago Wilderness Magazine, an invitation to participate as an exhibitor at Wild Things demonstrating a bio-diversity concept, and, perhaps, a scholarship could be devised in some capacity to reward those who are particularly ambitious.
Administration of the project is designed to be as simplistic as possible, with responsibility of maintaining the passport lying with the participant. The steward chiefly acts as a mentor, and signs and stamps the passport.
Outreach for the project is expected to be at a grassroots level, attracting participants from within the community. At its earliest stages, the steward may be best suited to reach out to known scouting troops, home schools, youth groups, interested individuals, etc., while being receptive to hosting a visiting passport group or member at their workday from time to time.
Funding needs of the project are minimal at this time, and are being shouldered by the volunteers with hopes of perhaps some sponsorship. The concept and design have been donated by the volunteers. 500 total passports are being compiled and will be available to a small network of stewards, perhaps five, as a pilot. Each participating pilot site will have a stamp designed so that it can be placed in the passbook as appropriate.
Additional information and questions can be directed to any of the Committee Members listed below.
Chicago Wilderness Grassroots Outreach Committee Members:
Pat Hayes, ptihys@yahoo.com, 708-220-9596
Kathy Marie Garness, kmgfinearts@comcast.net, 708-366-7584 or 708-698-6159
Diane Huebner, d-huebner@northwestern.edu, 773-459-4838
Dick Riner, dickriner@gmail.com, 708-720-5683
Karen Glennemeier, kglennemeier@audubon.org, 847-724-5226
Justin Pepper, jpepper@audubon.org, 847-965-1150
###
CHICAGO WILDERNESS
GRASSROOTS YOUTH OUTREACH
“Chicago Wilderness Fieldbook…
A Passport to Discover Nature’s Hidden Treasures”
STEWARD/MONITOR PARTICIPATION
Information
Congratulations on joining a network of people who want to see our children, our young adults, get attached to the real joys of knowing nature as it should be…native and historic, capable of sustaining complex and biodiverse ecosystems, sustaining now endangered and threatened species that many are likely never to see without our help. We have all been open to introducing new volunteers to the significance of the work we do, sharing what we know. With the “Chicago Wilderness Fieldbook, A Passport to Discover Nature’s Hidden Treasures”, we now have a mechanism in place to reach out to our youth and get them engaged on an ongoing basis. Our goal is to build future stewards, laypeople who care.
Your Role:
You are the land steward or species monitor. You are the mentor. It’s rather simple. There’s no administrative work, really. No record keeping, no evaluations. It’s not much more than what you’ve been doing already when taking in new volunteers and youth groups. It just has a little added fun to it:
à A passport has been designed for three age groups, 8 to 10, 11 to 13, and high school-aged young adults. The passport is a journal, a place to sketch and make notes. There are a few, age-relevant prompts in each book.
à Outreach is up to you. As you find youth who may be interested in this program, reach out to them and their parents, teachers or youth group leaders.
à Give the child the appropriate passport. You can get a supply by contacting a Chicago Wilderness Youth Outreach person shown at the end of this orientation.
à Encourage them to look at nature with new eyes, a steward’s eyes. Meld them into your workday so they can observe, participate and begin to understand. Key word here is participate. Think out loud so they can begin to grasp strategies and concerns, indicators or success.
à Encourage them to make notes in their book, perhaps around a brush pile burn, perhaps with some treats back at the car. Then, as a steward, give them a stamp for their book and sign their page.
à Suggest from time to time that they visit other stewarded sites in the passport network so they can have a sense of adventure and experience the wonderful natural attributes that other protected sites hosted by Chicago Wilderness. They will be enriched by working with other stewards.
à It is hoped that children will want to collect as many stamps, (and experiences) that they can. In the process, they will become bonded with a friend for life, the joy of nature in resplendent good health. They will hopefully become a steadfast steward, caregiver, regardless of the tract they professionally pursue.
à Hopefully, there will be other incentives available for them. It’s a new program and many are showing signs of support. As the program grows so will the network, so will the cadre of supporters.
à If someone should call you to say they hold a Chicago Wilderness passport and they would like to join one of your workdays, just say “Yes!” (and give them a stamp).
à Each site that joins the passport network will have a unique stamp that belongs to that site.
The responsibility of the book lies with the participant. Your responsibility is that of a mentor and holder of the stamps. There’s no pass or fail, no right or wrong answers, no evaluation, no recordkeeping. If a child participates for a day, for a season, for years, they will be enriched by their own level of ambition and interest.
What To Do Next:
There are a few things to do next:
Ø Tell us who you are, the site(s) you work with, whether you are a steward or monitor, and potential participant groups. See registration form.
Ø Submit a digital photo or drawing that can be used as your signature stamp for the passport. If you don’t have a favorite species photo, let us know what you’d like and we’ll help you find it.
Ø Solicit groups in your community that you think would like to participate. We will also be marketing the concept to participants, and may refer a group to you.
Ø Tell us how many passports you would like? For what age group?
This is an exciting opportunity. It’s a great way for Chicago Wilderness to share its hidden treasures with our youth, to engage them in nature with purposeful hands on, pro-active restoration activities, and introduce them to a long-lost friend.
If you have any questions or would like more information, contact any member of the Chicago Wilderness Grassroots Outreach Committee:
Pat Hayes, ptihys@yahoo.com, 708-220-9596
Kathy Garness, kmgfinearts@comcast.net, 708-366-7584 or 708-698-6159
Diane Huebner, d-huebner@northwest.edu, 773-459-4838
Dick Riner, dickriner@gmail.com, 708-720-5683
Karen Glennemeier, kglennemeier@audubon.org, 847-724-5226
Justin Pepper, jpepper@audubon.org, 847-965-1150
To register, submit stamp pictures and request passports contact:
Pat Hayes, ptihys@yahoo.com, 708-220-9596, or any committee member
We welcome your comments, suggestions and feedback!
Please feel free to contact any committee member.
***
Chicago Wilderness Fieldbook...
A Passport to Discover Nature’s Hidden Treasures
Steward/Monitor Welcome Registration
Chicago Wilderness is an exciting place, filled with exciting people. I look forward to being a part of the important network of volunteers who want to see our children, our young adults, get attached to the real joys of knowing nature as it should be…native and historic.
Name:
Role: [ ] Steward Volunteer Site Coordinator:
Name
[ ] Monitor
Phone Email Address
Site:
Address:
Ecosystem:
Site:
Address:
Ecosystem:
Contact Info: Address__________________________________________________
Address__________________________________________________
Phone ___________________________________________________
Email____________________________________________________
How Did You Hear About Us? _________________________________________________
Attached is my stamp picture request.
Please send me passports in this quantity: Level I _____ Level II _____ Level III _____
Send registration info to: Pat Hayes, ptihys@yahoo.com, 708-220-9596
We welcome your comments, suggestions and feedback!
Please free to contact Pat or any committee member.
***
CHICAGO WILDERNESS
GRASSROOTS YOUTH OUTREACH
“Chicago Wilderness Fieldbook…
A Passport to Discover Nature’s Hidden Treasures”
YOUTH LEADER PARTICIPATION
Information
Congratulations on joining a network of people who want to see our children, our young adults, get attached to the real joys of knowing nature as it should be…native and historic, capable of sustaining complex and biodiverse ecosystems, sustaining now endangered and threatened species that many are likely never to see without our help. With the “Chicago Wilderness Fieldbook, A Passport to Discover Nature’s Hidden Treasures”, we now have a way to reach out to our youth and get them engaged on an ongoing basis. Our goal is to get our young people reconnected with nature, build future stewards, laypeople who care.
Your Role as a Youth Leader:
You may be a parent, a scout leader, a teacher or a youth group leader. You bring the children back to nature. You engage in work activities with them under the mentoring of the steward or monitor. It’s rather simple. There’s no administrative work, really. No record keeping, no evaluations. Your role is to connect our young folks to our stewards, bring them to workdays, watch over them as they participate.
A passport has been designed for three age groups, 8 to 10, 11 to 13, and high school-aged young adults. The passport is a journal, a place to sketch and make notes. There are a few, age-relevant prompts in each book.
à Connect with a steward, a volunteer layperson who has been certified by forest preserve districts or others to perform native habitat restoration and monitoring activities and lead workdays.
à Encourage young folks to make notes in their passport, and make sure they get their passport stamped by the steward.
à Suggest from time to time that they visit other stewarded sites in the passport network so they can have a sense of adventure and experience the wonderful natural attributes that other protected sites hosted by Chicago Wilderness. They will be enriched by working with other stewards.
à Each site will have its own unique stamp. It is hoped that children will want to collect as many stamps, (and experiences) that they can. In the process, they will become bonded with a friend for life, the joy of nature in resplendent good health. They will hopefully become a steadfast steward, caregiver, regardless of the tract they professionally pursue.
à Hopefully, there will be other incentives available for them. It’s a new program and many are showing signs of support. As the program grows so will the network, so will the cadre of supporters.
The responsibility of the book lies with the participant. There’s no pass or fail, no right or wrong answers, no evaluation, no recordkeeping. If a child participates for a day, for a season, for years, they will be enriched by their own level of ambition and interest.
What To Do Next:
There are a few things to do next:
Ø Tell us who you are, and information about your groups. See “Welcome Registration”
Ø We’ll get you connected with your steward. See “Steward/Monitor Network” sheet.
Ø Review the “Dress for Success” information on the other side of the “Steward/Monitor Network” sheet.
Ø You’ll get your passports from your steward when you first visit the site.
Ø Provide feedback to us. We welcome your comments, suggestions and feedback.
This is an exciting opportunity. It’s a great way for Chicago Wilderness to share its hidden treasures with our youth, to engage them in nature with purposeful hands on, pro-active restoration activities, and introduce them to a long-lost friend.
If you have any questions or would like more information, contact any member of the Chicago Wilderness Grassroots Outreach Committee:
Pat Hayes, ptihys@yahoo.com, 708-220-9596
Kathy Garness, kmgfinearts@comcast.net, 708-366-7584 or 708-698-6159
Diane Huebner, d-huebner@northwest.edu, 773-459-4838
Dick Riner, dickriner@gmail.com, 708-720-5683
Karen Glennemeier, kglennemeier@audubon.org, 847-724-5226
Justin Pepper, jpepper@audubon.org, 847-965-1150
We welcome your comments, suggestions and feedback!
Please feel free to contact any committee member.
***
"Chicago Wilderness Fieldbook...
A Passport to Discover Nature’s Hidden Treasures"
Welcome!
Youth Leader Registration
Chicago Wilderness is an exciting place, filled with exciting people. We are looking forward to your being a part of the important network of volunteers who want to see our children, our young adults, get attached to the real joys of knowing nature as it should be…native and historic. Congratulations on encouraging our young people to look at nature with new eyes, to participate in important native habitat enhancement activities, to bond with nature and be a part of it.
Sign us Up!
Name: ___________________________________________________________
Leader Role: ___________________________________________________________
Group: ___________________________________________________________
Location: ___________________________________________________________
Age Group: [ ] 8 to 10 [ ] 11 to 13 [ ] 14 and older
Number of
Youth Participants: __________________ Number of Adult Participants:_________________
I have a site,
steward or monitor in mind: ____________________________________________________
or
Please recommend
a site [ ] __________________________________________________________
Contact Information:
Name:____________________________________________________________________
Address:__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
Phone:__________________________Email ______________________________________
How Did You Hear About Us? ___________________________________________________
Send registration information to:
Pat Hayes, ptihys@yahoo.com, 708-220-9596, or any committee member
***
Chicago Wilderness
GRASSROOTS YOUTH OUTREACH
"Chicago Wilderness Fieldbook...
A Passport to Discover Nature’s Hidden Treasures"
STEWARD/MONITOR NETWORK
Pat Hayes, Steward Workdays: 2nd & 4th Saturdays, 9:00 to Noon
Orland Grassland, FPD of Cook County 2nd & 4th Wednesday mornings, call first
On 167th Street, ¼ block west of La Grange Road
Orland Park, IL
Ecosystem: 750-acre Grassland (prairie, wetland, oak savanna)
708-220-9596 or 708-460-8270
ptihys@yahoo.com or www.orlandgrassland.org
Dick Riner, Steward Workdays: Varies, call for specifics
Bartel Grassland, FPD of Cook County
West of Central on Flossmoor Road
Matteson, IL
Ecosystem: 375-acre Grassland (prairie, wetland, oak savanna)
708-720-5683
Barb and George Birmingham, Stewards Workdays: Varies, usually 3rd Saturday mornings
Theodore Stone Preserve, FPD of Cook County
East of La Grange Road on 67th Street
Hodgkins, IL
Ecosystem: 140-acre Prairie and savanna
708-386-0579
Al and Barb Wilson, Stewards Workdays: Saturday- 9 to Noon
Lake in the Hills Fen, FPD of Lake County Sunday- 9:30 to 12:30
Ryder Park at the east end of Miller Road
Lake in the Hills, IL
Ecosystem: 400 acres of Dry Hill Prairie, Sedge Meadow and Fen
847-658-0024
Kathy Marie Garness, Steward Workdays: 1st Saturday most months-9 to Noon
Grainger Woods, FPD of Lake County
St. Mary’s and Route 60, just west of I-94
Mettawa, Il
Ecosystem: 300 acres of Black Ash Flatwoods and Swamp White Oak Savanna
708-366-7584
Bruce Blake, Steward Workdays: See Forest Preserve Dist DuPage County Churchhill Woods, FPD of DuPage County website
Corner of Walnut St and Longfellow Ave, take path north.
(park at Glen Ellyn Park District’s Walnut Glen Park)
Glen Ellyn, IL
Ecosystem: Class 4 glacial kame, 80% woodland/20% savanna
Pete Jackson, Steward Workdays: 1st and 3rd Saturday of each month,
Deer Grove, FPD of Cook County 9:00 to noon
Off Quentin Rd, between Dundee and Lake-Cook Roads
Palatine, IL
Ecosystem: Oak hickory woodland with wetland and prairie remnants
847-577-4438
http://deergrove.freehostia.com
Nancy Novak, Co-Steward Workdays: Schedule posted on www.dupageforest.com
Springbrook Prairie, FPD of DuPage County Scroll to Volunteer, then Nature Workday
West side of Plainfield-Naperville Road, ½ mile south
Of 75th Street, east of Rte. 59
Naperville, IL
Ecosystem: 1,849 acres of prairie, wetland, fen
Jeff Weiss, Co-Steward Workdays: Contact steward at email address
Buffalo Creek Forest Preserve, FPD of Lake County
Buffalo Grove, IL
Ecosystem: Restored prairie
marjeff1@aol.com
Cardinal Flower Northern Harrier Bobolink Carex Grayii Buttercup Glacial Ridge Path Hummingbird .
Theodore Stone Bartel Grassland Orland Grassland Grainger Woods Lake in the Hills Churchhill Woods Deer Grove
Eastern Meadowlark Buffalo
Springbrook Prairie Buffalo Creek