UP for Learning and Shelburne Farms are excited to announce the 6th annual Cultivating Pathways to Sustainability (CPS). This year, youth-adult teams from school communities will spend a year together connecting the promising efforts of Act 77 - personalized learning, flexible pathways to graduation - to that of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. School teams will link what is going on inside their schools to larger efforts underway, toward making a positive difference in the world. This effort will also connect youth and adult teams across the state, the country and internationally in a range of sustainability work that can shift the narrative of curricular focus to empower youth to become actively involved in their school and local communities.
Teams will engage in a year-long Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) process to address one or more of the SDGs, which focus on pathways to building a socially, economically, and ecologically just society. Throughout the year, youth-adult teams will work with our CPS facilitators to develop and implement learner-centered projects. Once underway, they will share progress, questions and inspiration via a virtual and in-person learning community.
The purpose of CPS is to provide school communities with structured opportunities to:
Envision a socially and economically just and sustainable society by cultivating authentic youth-adult partnerships.
Increase student empathy, independence, perseverance, responsibility, and engagement through project-based learning.
Teach specific skills for leadership, facilitation, and teamwork.
Participate in youth participatory action research (YPAR).
Celebrate individuality and develop knowledge of equitable practices.
Enrich current pedagogical practices with more strategies for student-centered decision-making.
Elevate youth-adult partnership in their educational community.
Contact: Jen Cirillo,
jcirillo@shelburnefarms.org or Sarah Popowicz,
sarah@upforlearning.orgLogistics:
We welcome school teams of 6-8 students and 2-3 adults to express interest now to begin a multi-year journey with us! Please fill in the interest form below.
