School and Youth Programs
Cuyahoga SWCD educates and empowers Cuyahoga County's youth to be the conservationists of tomorrow.
Whether you are a teacher, non-formal educator, a student or a scout or youth group leader, we have a program for you! From loaned kits and models or single visit experiences to multi-visit experiences and educator workshops, our programs and resources focus on building an understanding of our soil and water resources, how humans affect and are affected by the quality of those resources, and actions we can take to make our soil and water healthier for both humans and wildlife. Many of our programs are aligned with State of Ohio Education Standards (see tables in image gallery below).
See below for program descriptions. If you have a question about any of our programs or don’t see what you’re looking for, be sure to reach out to one of our educators for more information!
School and Youth Programs
Teachers can benefit by borrowing one of our many educational models for their classroom to demonstrate soil health, erosion, water quality, and watershed processes. SWCD Educators may be available to conduct Model-based lessons as availability allows.
Environmental Education Kits are self-contained resources that can be borrowed from Cuyahoga SWCD and include the materials necessary to conduct a lesson or series of lessons on a specific topic. SWCD Educators may be available to conduct Kit-based lessons as availability allows.
In addition to the program listed below, Cuyahoga SWCD Educators can provide in-person or virtual presentations about soil, water, forestry, wildlife or environmental careers.
Students who have completed grades 8-12 are eligible to apply for a scholarship to attend Camp Canopy (formerly known as the Ohio Forestry and Wildlife Conservation Camp). Each year, the district send up to five students to this wonderful week-long camp held at Camp Muskingum in Carroll County which concentrates on forest ecology including; silviculture, tree identification, and forestry products
The district recruits and trains high school students for the yearly Envirothon competition. Envirothon is North America’s largest high school environmental competition that starts at the local level. Envirothon is aimed at developing knowledgeable skilled and dedicated citizens who have an understanding of natural resources and are willing and prepared to work towards achieving and maintaining a balance between the quality of life and the quality of the environment. Envirothon tests students’ knowledge of soils, forestry, wildlife, aquatics, and current environmental issues. www.envirothon.org
Educator workshops are held each year to expose educators to environmental education curriculum that is hands-on and action-oriented, in addition to meeting the required grade-level benchmarks. Our education coordinators are certified to teach several curricula. These are intended to be a train-the-trainer workshop where the educator will learn the materials and incorporate them into their classroom. Workshops available include:
Project WET (Water Education for Teachers)
Project Learning Tree
Project Wild
Project Wild Aquatic
Wonders of Wetlands
Planning of Wetlands
Healthy Water/Healthy People
Food, Land and People
Earth Partnership for Schools
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