FEATURE STORY:

MindShift: Youth Educating Youth -
Shifting to a Sustainable Culture

In September, 2007, a team of seven passionate youth in the Halifax area came together to design a dramatic environmental education program called MindShift. We met once a week for a year, and with the guidance of an adult mentor, created an interactive, youth-led presentation which includes drama, dialogue, activities and discussions about educating youth to shift their values and lifestyles towards sustainability. During this past year our team has achieved more then we ever believed possible. Our accomplishments include: creating the program, presenting it a number of times to public audiences and classrooms, performing the keynote presentation at both provincial (Recreation Nova Scotia) and national (EECOM) conferences, and training over sixty high school students to deliver this program.
MindShift’s goal is to have the program presented to all grade 10 students in Nova Scotia. In order to achieve this, we have started by training over sixty youth to present MindShift in their schools. Currently, we have 6 teams in 5 Halifax area high schools. In each school the MindShift team presents to grade 10 science classes. Along with presenting MindShift, the youth team is also responsible for running environmental awareness events throughout the school year.

My school has two MindShift teams that work together to present and educate. We have not only been able to present MindShift to 8 classes to date, but we have also been working on changing our school’s culture. Together we have planned awareness events, a community clean up and have provided easy sustainable choices to the students in our school.

My hope is that one day, MindShift will reach all Canadian high school students and teach them the value of sustainable living and our role in the environment. I am so proud to be a part of such an amazing project, having worked for countless hours in the last year with some of the most inspiring people. I truly believe that this program will create significant change, not only in my community, but throughout the entire world, inspiring people to shift their way of thinking for a more sustainable future.

Submitted By: Rachel Eisener

Rachel Eisener is a grade 12 student at Lockview High School in Fall River, NS, and an original member of the MindShift Development Team. She is a passionate change-agent who works tirelessly to model and promote sustainability in her school and community.