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Flint
Why We Are Here: Earth Force’s long standing partnership with General Motors prompted the GREEN program’s establishment in Flint, a community established along the banks of the Flint River in mid-Michigan. The Flint area has experienced deindustrialization, brownfields contamination and struggling schools for the past 20 years, so the GREEN program is working to bridge environmental justice and academic gaps through direct water monitoring experience. Our partner, General Motors, has had a presence in Flint for decades, and through their support of the GREEN program, Earth Force has been able to develop programming in both the Genesee and Lapeer intermediate school districts. The 1,400 square mile Flint River Watershed is home to over 600,000 people, nearly half of whom drink groundwater affected by the Flint River; and over 250,000 more use the river as the backup supply for drinking water. Earth Force is excited to apply a whole watershed approach here, encompassing two counties where six General Motors facilities generously support this work.
Demographics: Genesee Intermediate School District - 57% of all students served are receiving free/reduced lunch 35% of families were below poverty level throughout Flint. According to the 2006-2008 American Community Survey, the racial composition of Flint was: • White: 42.31% • Black or African American: 52.46% • Native American: 0.51% • Asian: 0.42% • Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander: 0.06% • Some other race: 1.26% • Two or more races: 2.98% • Hispanic or Latino (of any race): 3.18% Source: American FactFinder, United States Census Bureau. "Flint, Michigan - ACS Demographic and Housing Estimates: 2006-2008". Factfinder.census.gov. link. Retrieved 2010.
What We Are Doing: We are partnering with the Flint River Watershed Coalition, Michigan State University Extension, the Drain Commissioner's Office and several GM facilities to implement GREEN in both Genesee and Lapeer Counties. We are now working on institutionalizing GREEN and service-learning at the Intermediate School District level through a grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service. To date, we have trained 15 teachers in the Earth Force Protecting Our Watersheds curriculum in Genesee County. The Flint River GREEN Team meets monthly, to plan for future trainings, teacher support and monitoring events. We’ve also recently partnered with Central Michigan University’s Gear Up! program to pilot the GREEN program in a summer college prep course. Finally, we are working on developing the annual youth summit as a forum where students can share their action projects with the public, as well as developing a service-learning team to help partners, teachers and students in their watershed action goals. Also in this site, one of our star educators in the Watershed STEM Initiative, Don Hammond, received the Chevrolet GREEN Educator Award for his outstanding work at Beecher High School. His students investigated an oil spill in Kalamazoo and took action through community outreach campaigns and a native wetland habitat on their school grounds. Earth Force History in this Community: In 1990, the Flint River Watershed Coalition (FRWC) and the Flint Community Schools were offered an opportunity to participate in GREEN through a grant from General Motors. Since then, six GM local facilities have been active in Flint and contribute mentors, funding and student summit support to GREEN. To continue these types of partnerships, the Genesee Intermediate School District, the Lapeer Intermediate School District, the Flint River Watershed Coalition and the Clinton River Watershed Council received a three-year Corporation for National and Community Service grant to institutionalize GREEN and the Earth Force six step service-learning process throughout K-12 institutions in the Genesee Intermediate School District. Number of Youth: 1 Number of Educators: 44 Participating Partners: Flint River Watershed Coalition - http://flintriver.org/blog/programs/flint-river-green/ Michigan State University Extension - http://www.msue.msu.edu/portal/default.cfm?pageset_id=27254 General Motors – www.gm.com Genesee County Drain Commissioner – www.GCDCWWS.com Clinton River Watershed Council - http://www.crwc.org/
Participating School Districts: Genesee Intermediate School District - http://www.geneseeisd.org/
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