education – The FAIRCHILD CHALLENGE

Empower students to become environmental movers and shakers. This year's program will reach thousands of Chicagoland high school students — young people bursting with creativity and ideas for how to ensure a healthy future for their planet. Participants are male and female, from all walks of life. They represent diverse interests, experiences, and abilities. They are united only by their desire to create and to effect change. Your support empowers these young people to try to solve the problems of our planet, to envision a brighter future for themselves. With your contribution, teens of all classes, races, and geographic distinctions become change agents, standing tall in the face of environmental challenges. They come together with the common purpose of making a positive difference.

Help teachers inspire hard-to-reach students.
Teachers regale the Challenge as a fun and practical tool for enhancing teaching and learning, especially in the arts and sciences. By participating in the program, they are able to infuse excitement into existing curricula and provide students with an opportunity for extra credit. Moreover, the Challenge attracts traditionally hard-to-reach students. "The kids that participated were not my 'A' students," noted a Lane Tech High School teacher. "They were my high needs, special ed kids. They were very much affected by their participation in the Challenge."

Celebrate hard-working high schools.
Boost morale and foster pride. Your support enables high schools to celebrate the achievements of their students and receive a well-deserved pat on the back for their school-wide accomplishments. Through the annual awards ceremony, and other special events, the Challenge builds a diverse community of Chicagoland schools committed to environmental action and education.

Influence the next generation of environmental champions. Our planet needs informed and engaged advocates. The Challenge sparks youth from diverse backgrounds to imagine solutions to environmental issues. The program incubates talent and passion on behalf of the environment, part of a Chicago Botanic Garden-wide effort to inspire and train the next generation of eco-stewards. We track past participants to measure how their participation in the Challenge influences their career and volunteer choices.

Nurture the arts.
Through its multidisciplinary format, the Challenge supports students’ artistic endeavors in photography, sculpture, architecture, graphic design, painting, and poetry. Each year, the Chicago Botanic Garden partners with area arts organizations to hire teaching artists to conduct in-school workshops. These workshops are offered at no cost to the participating schools. Moreover, the Garden hosts an annual special gallery exhibit showcasing work produced through the Challenge. We continue to pursue opportunities to exhibit student work broadly throughout the Chicagoland community.

Facilitate cultural exchange and enrichment.
Through a series of events and activities — symposia, poetry slams, and art exhibitions, and more — high school students from throughout Chicagoland come together, teens whose paths would not likely cross otherwise. The Challenge encourages them to share perspectives and passions about the environmental topics that most concern them and their communities. Cultural barriers shatter and new links forged as youth identify and express environmental injustices and highlight our shared stake in the future of the planet.