<ach ‘09 has been volunteering with Kids for Conservation (KFC) for six terms now, and is nowhere close to giving it up. “It’s one of the most enjoyable hours of my week,” says Alspach. “I just look forward to all the energy that these kids have.”
Kids for Conservation is an ACT program geared to help elementary school students in Northfield learn more about the environment they live in and ways to protect it. Carleton students design a lesson plan and return to the same classrooms once a week to lead a one-hour interactive lesson. Through hands-on games and activities, kids learn about concepts related to land, water, and energy. According to Liz, each term follows a different theme, last term’s being “Farming.”
What is Liz’s favorite part? She loves the last day of the term, which is essentially a review of the lessons that have been covered. She explains how good it is to hear kids talk about what they learned, and how much their vocabulary has grown. “It confirms what they learned from you,” she says.
But environmental lessons are not the only thing the kids are learning from KFC. Liz explains that while they’re teaching conservation, it is also a way for kids to learn about the Carleton students and where they come from, whether it be Hong Kong or northern Iowa. “It makes you really aware of how kids are influenced by every aspect of you,” says Alspach.
Liz plans to keep volunteering with KFC and looks forward to the lessons of this term. What’s next on her agenda? She has decided to start tutoring a fourth-grader one on one in math.
Want to get involved? Check out KFC and other ACT programs on the ACT website: http://apps.carleton.edu/campus/act/ or stop in to the ACT office in Sayles-Hill 162. If not now, when?