In any Oregon high school, a motivated group of students has immense potential to complete a local project to protect the environment. The Oregon High School Earth Club Network (OECN) seeks to nurture this potential by providing motivation, resources, and educational opportunities to clubs throughout the state. Over the past 11 years, more than 90 Oregon high schools have participated in the OECN. This program is free thanks to generous support from the Juan Young Foundation and PGE.

An earth club is an extracurricular group of students who wish to develop local projects to protect the environment. Project examples include removal of non-native species from a local riparian area, a school-wide recycling program, a bio-swale to filter runoff water from a school parking lot, reading to elementary school students about the environment, and restoration of habitat for pollinators. Through their projects, students develop leadership and citizenship skills.

Program Components

Currently the program includes the following three elements:

Fall Conference: For the past 12 years, the Northwest Earth Institute (NWEI) has sponsored a high-quality fall conference at the World Forestry Center. Last year’s conference hosted over 130 students and 25 club advisors. Through workshops given by local environmental professionals, students are given the opportunity to network and see how their efforts contribute to a larger community.

Earth Mentors: Earth Mentors are adult volunteers who want to help a high school earth club develop and implement a project related to the environment. Earth Mentors are trained to encourage students to assume leadership roles in project development and completion.

Spring Retreat: After their hard work during the school year, successful Earth Clubs will qualify for an overnight retreat. The retreat will highlight the projects of each Earth Club. It will allow students to connect on a deeper level, learn from each other’s experiences, and attend workshops focused on environmental leadership skills.

Other Resources:  NWEI has developed an Earth Club Resource Manual, which provides insight into how to start and run an Earth Club, as well as offering project ideas. The manual is free to students and club advisors.  To order this manual or for more information about the Earth Club program, email contact@nwei.org.


*For general information about the program contact Jane Turville at jane@nwei.org