MEADOWSCAPING FOR BIODIVERSITY
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    • PLANT SAMPLER >
      • New England Aster
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      • Goldenrod
      • Gray Goldenrod
      • Joe Pye Weed
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      • Wild Bergamot
      • Cottonbush
      • Culver's Root
      • Lowbush Blueberry
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Youth Environmental Entrepreneurship Program (YEEP) ​​

YEEP SUMMER                    BACKGROUND
SESSION 2017              
WALTHAM YEEP STUDENTS INSTALLED OVER 3,000 SQ. FT. OF MEADOWS AND SOLD OVER 420 NATIVE PLANTS TO 30 CUSTOMERS!
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​

YEEP SPRING 2017

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This experiential, out-of-school-time (spring through summer) environmental enrichment program engages and empowers teens, age 15 – 17, to act positively for the environment and themselves by building a service business where they provide organic landscaping with native plants to the City of Waltham and businesses and homeowners.
 
When youth are involved in healthy,enjoyable, and rewarding activities they have less time and inclination to get into trouble.
 
YEEP is a dual-track, active-learning program. Industry professionals and college interns teach youth the principles of ecosystem gardening and how to meadowscape with native plants as well as how to build, market, and launch a service business where they install and maintain native plants for their customers.
 
How it works
 
Meeting once a week afterschool for two hours over 12 sessions, students experience the Meadowscaping for Biodiversity curriculum and the Business Entrepreneurship curriculum, both customized and delivered by industry professionals and college mentors.
 
In late spring, over four sessions, youth and college interns will “apprentice” with a landscape designer to plan and plant a meadow for the public to see in Waltham. This meadow will serve as a staging area for new plants and a visual model to showcase student services to potential customers. After the first year, the meadow will supply some seeds and plants for future efforts, thus reducing the need to purchase them.
 
Also during the spring, students pre-sell native plants to property owners and then purchase inventory from native plant providers such as New England Wildflower Society, the Waltham Garden Club, Russell’s Garden Center and American Meadows, etc.

Resilient communities are made up of resilient people—people who can survive difficult experiences by calling on reserves of strength and the other members of the community to pull them through.
​

Youth receive a stipend of $11/hour ($22/session) to attend the 12 afterschool sessions. In summer students will be compensated by customers for their planting services.
​A MS4B staff member and/or college intern will mentor the youth as they deliver their services. 
MS4B’s Founder Barbara Passero and Co-Creator Jean Devine designed and lead the program. Barbara, a graduate of Simmons School of Library and Information Science, has a background in science education, environmental literacy, and advocacy. Jean Devine, a graduate of Simmons School of Management has expertise in business communications, program delivery, and curriculum design.
 
Why this program now?
 
This innovative program helps to solve two timely challenges. The first is a critical socio-economic challenge—how to help youth develop skills they can use to get jobs and to advance their personal, academic, and career directions. The second is a serious, environmental issue affecting all of society—how to restore vital biodiversity (essential to all life on this planet) and wildlife habitat in our community where development has far outpaced preservation of open space. This program offers students, mentors, funders, and customers a way to feel empowered and hopeful about the environment and the future.
 
We believe the YEEP presents an opportunity for the formation of productive, forward-thinking collaborations among public and private entities across Waltham and can serve as a valuable model for youth engagement in Waltham and other communities.
 
 
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​Want to know more? We would love to hear from you! 


Barbara Passero, Founder & Director                     Jean Devine, Co-Creator and
                                                                                 Program 
LEADER
781-209-0052                                                             617-947-6256
bpassero2013@gmail.com                                          jmdevine09@gmail.com​
​

"Funding for MEADOWSCAPING FOR BIODIVERSITY provided by the Waltham Cultural Council, New England Grassroots Environment Fund, Watertown Savings Bank, RTN GoodWorks Foundation, and many others."​​                                                      
Copyright (c) 2020. Meadowscaping for Biodiversity.   Jean Devine and Barbara Passero. info@meadowmaking.org CONFIDENTIAL. ALL RIGHTS PROTECTED WORLD-WIDE.
  • Home
  • About Us
    • MISSION
    • Photo Gallery
    • Staff
    • PARTNERS
    • SPONSORS
    • Meadow Blog
    • Meadow News
    • Literature and Helpful Links
  • Why Plant Meadows?
    • Native Plants
    • Challenges
  • Order Plants
    • Eco-Garden Orders 2020
    • PLANT SAMPLER >
      • New England Aster
      • Black-eyed Susan
      • Bee Balm
      • Blazing Star
      • Blue Vervain
      • Tickseed
      • Butterfly Weed
      • Common Milkweed
      • Goldenrod
      • Gray Goldenrod
      • Joe Pye Weed
      • New York Ironweed
      • Swamp Milkweed
      • Tall Phlox
      • Wild Bergamot
      • Cottonbush
      • Culver's Root
      • Lowbush Blueberry
      • Purple Coneflower
      • Sweet Pepper Bush
      • Switchgrass
      • Cinnamon Fern
      • Christmas Fern
    • PLANT CATALOG FALL 2020
  • Programs
    • YEEP
    • Educational workshops
    • Career workshops
    • Summer camps
    • Vacation camps
    • Conferences and Events
    • Projects
  • Contact Us