Earth Force After School is an innovative program that adapts the popular Earth Force community action and problem-solving model to out-of-school settings. Earth Force, which was created in 1994 and combines young people's desire to act on behalf of the environment with their desire to help their communities through voluntary service. Earth Force is unique because it is actually youth-led with a national Youth Advisory Board of 15 members, ages 12-17. Central to the program is a self-contained kit that provides educators with step-by-step instructions and activities in guiding youth through a community action and problem-solving project in an after school setting.

Earth Force After School can serve grades preK-12.

Since students have a strong natural interest in the outdoors, performing voluntary service and community action projects in their local area, the Earth Force After School Program is an effective way to create broader environmental knowledge while teaching respect and responsibility.

• Improves science learning;
• Provides experiences in service learning and community service;
• Can be used in conjunction with most current school curriculum;
• Can be adapted to any region of the country or locale;
• Gives youth hands-on real world experiences that reinforce the lessons learned during the regular school day;
• Helps students develop life-long personal skills in active citizenship, community involvement and environmental stewardship;
• Supports national and state education standards in sciences, environmental education and civics.

Earth Force After School includes the Complete Program Kit, program training for after school facilitators, ongoing support from Earth Force staff, access to online resources and a network of other After School participants. The Complete Program Kit includes A Facilitator Guide, Activity Cards, Team-Builder Cards, Tip Cards, Handout Masters, the Earth Force Video, and a Progress Chart.

Teachers have described the Earth Force After School Program as a fun and interesting way for students to actually apply the skills they learn in classes during the school day.

Training is not required to receive The Earth Force After School Complete Program Kit, but it is available upon request. The cost for the complete Earth Force After School Program Kit with training is $2,499 and the cost without training and support is $499. To order the kit, call (703) 299-9400 or send an e-mail to earthforce@earthforce.org.