New Earth Kids: Teens Connect at Ecocamp

3 September 2024 – Host Nan Franzblau heads into the Gila National Forest to visit Ecocamp, a four-day wilderness camp for teenagers hosted by the Upper Gila Watershed Alliance. Campers describe skills they have learned, such as how to build a fire from scratch, which forest plants.

New Earth Kids: San Lorenzo & Hurley Elementary Schools Journey Through the Food System

28 May 2024 – Host Nan Franzblau accompanies students as they discover where food comes from and apply this knowledge to their own experiences. Beginning with the creation of soil, the sprouting of seeds and the water cycle that nourishes those seeds, students learn how plants grow, make more seeds, provide food, and how that food gets from the fields to our forks. Representatives from several local non-profits help guide the young participants, who reflect on how to make healthy choices regarding sugar intake, homegrown or local vs. factory farmed produce, and the importance of consuming more fresh fruits and vegetables.

New Earth Project: Empowering Youth to Curb Climate Change

Host Nan Franzblau visits the New Earth Project work sites to talk with kids on the crew about the goals of the project, how the crew collects and processes large amounts of food and wood “waste” each week, and what they are learning from their jobs. The kids share details about how to build, fill, and maintain Johnson-Su bioreactors and how this composting process is unique in its capacity to create a fungal dominant soil amendment. The New Earth Project directors also chime in with not only their hopes for how the project will continue to empower the kids, but how the kids have helped to shape the project.