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SOLD OUT | The Diatribe + LGROW | We Are Water Workshop
Date/Time
Registration Begins
6/1/2021 8:00 AM
Last Day To Register
6/30/2021 5:00 PM
Age Requirement
Birthdate must be between 7/10/2003 and 7/9/2010
Location
1715 Hillburn Ave NW
Grand Rapids, MI 49504, US
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The last date for registration has passed.

In this collaboration between youth poetry non-profit, The Diatribe, and the Lower Grand River Organizations of Watersheds (LGROW), We Are Water is offering students a unique opportunity to deepen their understanding and connection with their local waterways and nature as a whole. Through multimedia presentation and hands-on activities, participants will learn about the history of environmental justice and how to envision themselves within the movement to fight climate change; all while using poetry as a tool for digestion of the workshop's content, conversation and self-expression. This weekend experience, immersed in the beautiful scenery of Blandford Nature Center, is an invitation to see yourself, and humans of all identities, as an inseparable and remarkable part of the interconnected webs that make up life on our planet.

Age Requirements: Ages 11-18
 
Cost: Free (registration still required)
 
Workshop Daily Breakdown:
 
July 9th:
10 am: Arrival and check-in
10:30 am - 12:30 pm: What is Environmental Justice, EJ in Water, and Cultural Connections to Water
12:30 pm - 1:00 pm: Lunch on site
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm: Review poetry prompts, writing, and editing time
 
July 10th:
10 am: Arrival
10:15 am - 12:30 pm: Water and Air in Your Community, Healthy Homes, Youth Voices in Environmental Action
12:30 pm - 1:00 pm: Lunch on site
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm: Review poetry prompts, editing, and performance dynamics
 
July 11th:
11:45 am: Student arrival time
12:00 pm - 2:00 pm: Students final performances
 
 
Please Note: This program will take place both indoors and outdoors. In the event of inclement weather, this program will remain indoors. All participants are required to wear masks for the duration of the program both indoors and outside, and guests are expected to socially distance as much as possible. This workshop will require participants to go upstairs during the indoor portion and onto uneven trails with steep inclines during the outdoor portion.
 
Covid-19 Information: In accordance with current CDC guidelines and State of Michigan COVID regulations, Blandford Nature Center requires all staff, visitors, and program participants ages 2 and up to wear masks while inside all buildings and for the duration of all programs both inside and outside, regardless of vaccination status.
 
About The Teachers
 
Jocelyn Barnes (she/they) is the newest host of the Drunken Retort, an open mic hosted in Grand Rapids, MI,  she is the Communication Lead & a Teaching Artist with the Diatribe, and she was Retort United Grand Slam Champion of 2020. Her main goal in life is to empower those without the ability to do so themselves and to give as much love as she wants to be given.  She says she’s proof that art saves lives, and wants you to say “thank you” to a black woman today!
 
Eileen Boekstein (she/her) holds a BS in Environmental Biology, an MS in Environmental Studies and an Environmental Educator Certification from the Michigan Alliance for Environmental and Outdoor Education. She is experienced in formal and informal place-based stewardship education and currently is the Environmental Education Coordinator at the Grand Valley Metro Council, where she works with the Lower Grand River Watershed Management Plan, the regional Public Education Plan for stormwater permits, and other K-12 and community education initiatives. 
 
Sprout “KFG” Foster-Goodrich (they/them) is a Pisces poet, born in the mythical land of Kalamazoo;
An award-winning, published writer, slam poet, Grand Rapids' slammaster, and touring spoken word artist;
A sometimes-farmer and forever learner;            
Mental health and social justice advocate, community organizer, fierce friend, healer and author of two chapbooks -- “The Year of the Bee” and “Somatic, As In, Sonar;”                                
KFG is a teaching artist for youth poetry non-profit The Diatribe and workshop developer, as of 2021 premiering their Environmental Justice poetry program in collaboration with LGROW, “We Are Water.”

© Blandford Nature Center