Community education is essential to improving community sustainability and increasing awareness of environmental and disaster related issues on Cape Cod. Education is woven into our program at every level. Members and staff become educators every time they walk into the public with their AmeriCorps uniforms on. Whether we’re standing in line at the grocery store or on a service project, opportunities always arise that allow us to educate the public about our program and the services we provide.

In more formal settings, Members give community presentations to local elected officials and classrooms of students. Education topics for our program revolve around environmental and disaster preparedness and response topics as well as national service in general.

Environmental Education

“The Green Ribbon” Puppet Show

AmeriCorps Cape Cod is pleased to offer a puppet show entitled “The Green Ribbon.” Through the use of dialog and song, “The Green Ribbon” teaches the importance of recycling and caring for the environment to larger school audiences in an assembly-style forum.

Please contact our Education Member Leader at (508) 375-6975 or aceducation@barnstablecounty.org to schedule a puppet show for your school today!

Service Learning Projects

We are a program that is passionate about service learning and community service. Additionally, our program is an advocate of the No Child Left Inside initiative that strives to get more children outdoors. We offer service learning lessons coupled with a community service project tailored to your school’s needs and interests.

Service Learning incorporates community service within an educational system. While we hope to teach the students a variety of subjects, we want to envelope this learning experience into community service.

Through natural resource management projects, students can attain the hands-on approach that comes with community service, to not only help and strengthen their community, but to apply their new knowledge to an event that will be of benefit to their neighborhood.

Examples of service learning projects include, but are not limited to:

• Planting beach grass. With this service project students will learn about the important role dunes play on Cape Cod and other factors in the beach’s ecosystem.
• Picking up trash in a park. Students will get a better idea as to how much garbage we proliferate and how it is affecting our world, as well as brainstorm ideas on how to cut down on their trash production.
• Removal of invasive species. Students will learn to identify many of the invasive species on Cape Cod and understand how they affect the native plants and our environment.
• Planting trees. Students will learn about carbon emissions and global warming and will plant a tree and learn more ways on how to reduce their carbon footprint.

All programs are free of charge. Corps Members are available for classroom presentations and off-site service learning projects on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays throughout the year. For additional information about any of our programs or to schedule a service learning activity, please contact our Education Member Leader at (508) 375-6875 or aceducation@barnstablecounty.org.

Disaster Preparedness Education

The AmeriCorps Cape Cod program partners with the Cape Cod and the Islands Chapter of the American Red Cross to offer community disaster education (CDE) presentations to Cape Cod residents and visitors. CDE presentations are designed to teach people how to prepare themselves, their families, and their communities for disaster situations. Presentation topics include: house fire prevention and preparedness, hurricane and winter storm safety, and family emergency preparedness plans. Presentations involve puppet shows, question and answer times, and other engaging activities.

Presentations range in length from thirty minutes to a few hours and they can be designed to fit any audience age group. Offered to schools, community centers, and senior centers, our CDE presentations are available upon request. To inquire about community disaster education presentations or to schedule one for your organization, please call (508)-775-1540 X 19 or e-mail supportone@cciredcross.org.