On July 9th, 2018, more than 100 ninth-graders participated in FOB’s “Kitchen Klimate Science” programs at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. The program follows a similar event in April in Tucker County at the National Youth Science Camp, for West Virginia science teachers.
The Marshall program was an active learning experience– everyone was up and dancing to the “Greenhouse Boogie”, led by Tom Rodd, a Friends of Blackwater Board member who created the program to explain how climate change is threatening the Allegheny Highlands.
The young people at Marshall were part of the summer Health Science and Technology Academy (HSTA), run by West Virginia’s School of Medicine to get minority, rural, and low-income young people into science careers.
“We have done more than a dozen schools this year, and almost 500 kids have been in our programs,” said Rodd. “I want to thank the Appalachian Stewardship Foundation and all of the Friends of Blackwater donors who have made these programs possible”.
“I am a volunteer,” said Rodd, “but we still need funds to pay for supplies and travel. Sometimes this year I had to get up at 5 a.m. to drive to a distant school, but the excitement and the concern of these young people for our planet’s future has made it a very rewarding endeavor.”
Friends of Blackwater will be showing off its “Kitchen Klimate Science” activities on Saturday, December 1st in Morgantown, at the 2018 Climate Issues Update Conference at the WVU Law School. Mark your calendars now– more information is coming soon! And thanks again to Marshall University, HSTA, and all their great kids!
