Children are the seedlings of tomorrow’s change. At Rainforest2Reef, we believe that children bring hope for a bright future, and thus we offer a wide range of environmental education programs including:

Classroom fundraising in the US. Children and their teachers can become catalysts for a better planet by:

• Sharing their knowledge with friends and family
• Becoming more conscious consumers
• Understanding how events thousands of miles away affect them locally
• Donating to Rainforest2Reef – Click here to download our printable form!
  
• Announcing the 2007/08 fundraising challenge! Rainforest2Reef is challenging the leaders of tomorrow to raise money to help protect pristine rainforest land in the Selva Maya. As a special incentive to donate to our organization, the teacher of each classroom that donates to Rainforest2reef will be entered in a random drawing for a free five-day Eco-tour of the southern Yucatan Peninsula during the summer of 2008!
• For more information, contact Marisa Lopez, Development Director for Rainforest2Reef, at marisa@rainforest2reef.org

Some examples of fundraisers other classes have organized:

• A first grade class collected recycling bottles and cans all year, and by April, collected enough money to protect 5 acres of rainforest! While raising money, the class also did research on the rainforests, and learned that “trees make oxygen for the earth and that there are many plants that are only found in the rainforests that are used to make medicine. When the trees are cut down, the animals will die. We want to help protect the jaguar’s habitat.”
• Another third grade class held a car wash, and managed to raise more the $350 for Rainforest2Reef!
• The parents and teachers of Thomas Grover Middle School collected donations during their PSTA Book Fair. The school organized the fundraiser because they “share your concern and appreciate your efforts to save the jaguar’s habitat- as a matter of fact, you may recall that the jaguar is our school mascot.”

Contest Rules

• In order to be entered in the drawing for a free Eco-tourism trip, each class must:
• Submit a picture of their group and a minimum one- paragraph essay about their class and how and why they decided to raise money for Rainforest2Reef;
• Mail a donation to Rainforest2Reef before May 1, 2008;
• Please note that:
• The winner will be notified by May 15, 2008.
• All classrooms or groups who donate will receive an Award Certificate as a thank-you!

Education programs within the rainforest itself.

• In Mexico, Rainforest2Reef staff held a series of workshops for teachers and staff from the Selva Maya rainforest; and developed and distributed educational materials to engage the local communities in migratory bird and tropical forest conservation through environmental education. The education materials answered questions like:
• What is a tropical forest and what is its climate?
• Which animals and plants inhabit a tropical forest?
• How do you identify different bird species?
• How have we changed tropical forests and what is needed to conserve them?
  

Both teachers’ guides and activity workbooks for the school kids were developed. 

In addition, a tree-planting project was implemented in the town of Pustunich as a service learning project. See what the children of Pustunich are doing to protect the rainforest. Click here to view video.

Education programs in the US and abroad.

• Our partnership with the Planet Art program of the Natural World Museum, a cultural institution that presents art through innovative programs to inspire and engage the public with environmental awareness and action. One of the Museum’s goals is to encourage a cross-cultural and interdisciplinary understanding of the function of art as a means to preserve the natural world.