Over the past year, there have been 50 youth-led environmental projects registered in Florida through conservationist Jane Goodall's Roots and Shoots program, and 20 of those are in the Tampa Bay area.
Now, many of these student conservationists will be among the thousands expected to hear from Goodall herself Saturday night at Tropicana Field as part of a Youth Environmental Summit.
"This is incredible, and it's very significant. This is her first visit to St Petersburg, Florida, and we're incredibly excited to be a part of it,” said Rachel Pethe', a teacher at Indi-Ed in St. Petersburg.
Saturday will be filled with guest speakers and workshops ahead of Goodall's speech, and Sunday will be a Day of Action, including volunteer opportunities “designed to protect and improve the region’s natural environment.”
Pethe’ facilitates the Roots and Shoots group at Indi-Ed of about 30 kids, some of whom saw Goodall at the Tampa Theatre in March of last year.
“My students … are actually helping facilitate the Youth Environmental Summit. They are hosting inspiration stations to help educate the community because that's the goal is to inspire the community, to educate them on what are some of the needs that we have, whether it's environmentally or animal needs,” Pethe’ said.
Her group is focusing on sea turtle conservation and held a Turtle Festival on St. Pete Pier back in April to inform passersby on best beach practices.
“We were pleasantly surprised that the community was so open to receiving this information, but also we were a little surprised at how many didn't know how important it is to fill in the holes on the beaches, to knock down sandcastles after you're done, and, of course, making sure that trash is cleaned up, the negative impact that straws and plastic bags have,” Pethe’ said.
The St. Petersburg students have been collaborating with a group of about 30 kids from the Cayman Islands on this sea turtle project.
The children from Sir John A Cumber Primary School and Prospect Primary on the islands are actually traveling to St. Petersburg for the summit thanks to education advocate Ricardo Forbes, who’s from there and coordinated the excursion.
"Those kids are excited because we were able to show them some clips of her work, who she is and what she's established," Forbes said, referring to Goodall.
Forbes first connected with Pethe’ last year after learning about the environmental work her students accomplish.
The St. Petersburg kids actually traveled to Grand Cayman this past May, visiting a turtle farm, feeding stingrays and swimming in bioluminescent water at night.
“It was educational, but it was also fun,” said Forbes. "If we can build that bridge to where others will realize crossing borders is not a problem, but you care for one another - that will make a difference."
Forbes said he hopes learning this at a young age will lead the children to be citizens of which the world can be proud.
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