My favorite day in the year; Food Day is Coming!

Food Day, October 24, is a nationwide celebration and a movement for healthy, affordable, and sustainable food. As a Global Youth Service Day Partner Day of Service, Food Dayinspires events, big and small, with individuals and organizations coming together to learn, debate, and mobilize to improve American food system. This year’s Food Day has a focus on food education. By teaching new life skills related to food, Food Day helps youth acquire the knowledge and skills to build a more food literate society.

The most important ingredient in Food Day is you! Here are a few suggestions for how you and the youth you work with can celebrate Food Day:

• Harvest the food you planted on GYSD (or during other spring and summer projects) and cook it on Food Day,
• Participate in the nationwide action Let’s Get Cookingon and around October 24, or sign in support of Get Food Education in Every School initiative with Jamie Oliver Food Foundation,
• Attend a Food Day event near you.

Don’t forget to register your Food Day event on the national map, and check out www.FoodDay.org for more resources.

Every October is Let’s Talk Month!

WHAT IS LET’S TALK MONTH?

Let’s Talk Month is a national public education campaign celebrated in October and coordinated by Advocates for Youth. Let’s Talk Month is an opportunity for community agencies, religious institutions, businesses, schools, media, parent groups and health providers to plan programs and activities which encourage parent/child communication about sexuality.

• Parents are the best sexuality educators for their children.
• Parents want to be good sex educators, but may not always understand how to do the job well.
• Children want sex education from their parents or legal guardians.
• You can be an “askable” parent, a caring parent, and a wise counselor.

CHECK OUT THESE RESOURCES AND ARTICLES FOR LET’S TALK MONTH.

• Let’s Talk Month Planning Guidebook
• Let’s Talk Month Poster, Postcard, and Brochure
• Let’s Talk Month: A Teen Mom’s Perspective
• Communication Tips and Messages Worth Repeating
• Organizations make Let’s Talk Month great
• Great videos made by youth activists celebrating LTM in Detroitand North Carolina

TEN THINGS YOU CAN DO FOR LET’S TALK MONTH

• Include an article about Let’s Talk Month in your newsletter or bulletin.
• Sponsor a parent-child communication training program at your school.
• Provide parents with resources such as pamphlets, brochures, and articles, etc.
• Encourage your school board member, administrators, teachers, nurse, and counselors to attend training programs in child/adolescent health and sexuality.
• Ask parents and other adults to wear an “I’m Askable ” button.
• Suggest that parents leave an “invitation to talk” in their child’s lunch, bedroom, on a mirror, or any other place the child will find it.
• Sponsor a contest (coloring, poster, essay) for your students that encourages parent-child communication.
• Promote local civic organizations to sponsor an event that will promote child health and /or parent-child communication.
• Encourage local churches and other faith organizations to participate in promoting Let’s Talk Month activities in your area.
• Start a “make a date” campaign. Ask parents to schedule a time with their family to sit down and talk together.

MESSAGES WORTH REPEATING

• All of us are growing and changing throughout our lives.
• Everyone develops in his/her own way.
• Your way is unique and special and valid.
• Everybody’s body is private and deserves respect.
• Sexuality is a beautiful gift—something to be handled wisely.

COMMUNICATION TIPS

Volunteer Opportunities at Denver Botanic Gardens!

From bravetracks.org

The Denver Botanic Gardens is open to volunteers 16 years and older who love to connect people to plants at the gardens and Denver Botanic Gardens at Chatfield and Mount Goliath. Volunteers can provide a variety of expertise and experinece to programs, research efforts, special events and customer experiences. Volunteers can work alongside knowledgeable staff and find a blossom of learning opportunities and chances to gain experience in horticulture.

Volunteering opportunities:

• Education Programs and Gardens Docents
• Special Events & Exhibits
• Horticulture & Research
• Visitor Services
• Mordecai Children’s Garden
• Affiliate Organizations
• Denver Botanic Gardens at Chatfield

How To Become a Denver Botanic Gardens Volunteer:

1. You must be at least 16 years old to participate in our adult volunteer program.
2. Fill out a volunteer form here.
3. Once your application is received, you will be contacted to schedule an initial interview with a placement coordinator.

If you need to complete court ordered community service, please call 720-865-3617 to schedule a meeting with our service coordinator.

College Spotlight: Fort Lewis College, Durango

This profile is part of BraveTracks’ series on Colorado colleges and universities soon-to-be high school graduates might want to check out. Visit Bravetracks.org, for more college profiles

Name: Fort Lewis College, Durango

Tuition: As of 2013-2014, in-state, full-time students should expect to pay $6,922 per semester.

Housing: ”We are lucky to live in such breathtaking proximity to the La Plata mountains. Our eight residential communities, including two apartment complexes, are caring communities. Our professional and student staff are here to help students create environments where we all belong. We teach mutual respect and consideration for others to create an environment where you can feel safe to be who you are. Staff help students learn to be good citizens by engaging them in learning outside the classroom.” Clickhere for more information on housing.

Campus highlights: ”Fort Lewis College offers a number of student services including nonremedial tutoring, placement service, day care, health service, and health insurance. Fort Lewis College also offers campus safety and security services like 24-hour foot and vehicle patrols, late night transport/escort service, 24-hour emergency telephones, lighted pathways/sidewalks, and controlled dormitory access (key, security card, etc). Of the students at Fort Lewis College, 80 percent have cars on campus. Alcohol is permitted for students of legal age at Fort Lewis College.” –U.S. World News and Report College Rankings website

Popular degrees, undergraduate:

Adventure Education: ”As an adventure education student at Fort Lewis College, you will learn how to lead and teach in a variety of settings that use outdoor and adventure environments to promote positive change in individuals, organizations, and society. You’ll achieve this using human-powered outdoor pursuits including backpacking, ropes-challenge courses, rock climbing, mountaineering, and river paddling to expose individuals and groups to new growth opportunities. Experiential and project-based learning is both the key and the point of the adventure education program, students learn both what to teach and how to teach it. Our spectacular location, where the Rocky Mountains meet the Southwest’s canyons and deserts, means we can extend the definition of “classroom” to include the peaks, rivers, forests, and canyon lands of southwestern Colorado and the Four Corners region.” –Fort Lewis website

Biology: ”Biology is one of the largest majors at Fort Lewis College, and with the completion of the college’s new biology wing, our students have access to modern, state-of-the-art laboratory facilities. And our students use those laboratories — meaning here you won’t just study biology, you’ll do it. In addition, our field-related courses commonly use nearby U.S. National Forest, Bureau of Land Management, and Colorado Department of Parks and Wildlife lands for outdoor, field-based exercises and research. At Fort Lewis College, our focus is on undergraduate education, so our students have research and experience opportunities that are often reserved for only graduate students at larger universities. Our undergraduate researchers make real and meaningful contributions to their fields through studies, presentations at conferences and competitions, and occasionally, by having their research published.”–Fort Lewis website

Popular degrees, graduate:

Teacher Education: “The Fort Lewis College Teacher Education Department offers a teacher licensure program designed to enable students to qualify for a Colorado teaching license. The teacher education department endeavors to attract individuals with a high potential for successfully completing teacher preparation courses and fieldwork. The program makes it possible for undergraduate students to complete both a bachelor’s degree and qualify for a teaching license within four academic years. Students holding a bachelor’s degree may enter our post-baccalaureate program and complete and licensure program. The teacher education department serves the long-term interests of a global society by preparing effective teachers who celebrate learning, value diversity and excellence, promote creative and critical thinking, and are compassionate and reflective. We are also committed to preparing Native American and Latino educators, striving to enhance educational opportunities for under-represented groups.” –Fort Lewis website

Biology: ”Biology is one of the largest majors at Fort Lewis College, and with the completion of the college’s new biology wing, our students have access to modern, state-of-the-art laboratory facilities. And our students use those laboratories — meaning here you won’t just study biology, you’ll do it. In addition, our field-related courses commonly use nearby U.S. National Forest, Bureau of Land Management, and Colorado Department of Parks and Wildlife lands for outdoor, field-based exercises and research. At Fort Lewis College, our focus is on undergraduate education, so our students have research and experience opportunities that are often reserved for only graduate students at larger universities. Our undergraduate researchers make real and meaningful contributions to their fields through studies, presentations at conferences and competitions, and occasionally, by having their research published.”–Fort Lewis website