Central Community College
EN-1: Student Educators Program

Students 4 Sustainability is the first CCC campus wide club. Most student club officers are also interns for the Environmental Sustainability office and provide peer-to-peer education to other club members, as well as all students. Examples include volunteering at campus and community events such as the annual Pollinator Festival, Highway cleanup, gardening, and sustainability projects. Students serve as mentor experts to other students in these activities.

Making ourselves campus wide allows all students to participate and be in the same club rather than having a separate club for each campus center. Being a campus wide club, Students 4 Sustainability can show peer to peer student education by sharing information about current events in our state related to environmental sustainability. Doing so allows the students to learn together, even if one is from one campus and another is from a center. Going to environmentally related events brings education to each member and allows for social contact with others who share similar interests. In 2019 S4S volunteered at the CCC Día de los Muertos event by maintaining a presence of zero waste by using reusable plates and utensils while a lunch was served to the public. S4S volunteered their time to washing the plates and utensils, reducing the amount of waste from the event.

Students 4 Sustainability gives members the opportunity to share ideas for projects that are environmentally sustainable to club members and get input on where to start a sustainable project and the resources available to help them follow through. In 2019, two members of S4S worked together for a display to be shown at the Nebraska State Fair. The project “Sustainaspace” showcased the ability to upcycle items at that a person would have or can easily obtain, and turn it into a upcycled piece of art. An example of a project that S4S recently participated in the 2019 Festival of Trees for the Stuhr museum. S4S showcased a tree made of all upcycled ornaments with a focus on native Nebraska grasses and flowers. The tree skirt was made of a tier of tin cans. S4S was awarded Best Tree Skirt 2019. Twice a year, S4S will gather to be a part of HWY Cleanup. The HWY Cleanup is an example of how members can help their community by cleaning up HWY waste and work together as a team to complete a task that benefits the environment and their community.

The main audience for Students-4-Sustainability is the overall student body at CCC. To share information about sustainability monthly meetings are held as well as the various events and activities. Also they volunteer, present, and collaborate with student and community members as mentor experts for the Environmental Sustainability office.

Environmental Sustainability interns and S4S have worked as partners with the Nebraska State Fair Sustainability Pavilion for three years. We have been given a space to share our student innovation projects, the student projects are sustainability focused to fair attendees. The student projects are showcased can be found in the Sustainability Pavilion. The purpose of displaying our student projects to the the State of Nebraska is to allow a person to be able to see how environmentally sustainable student projects can lead to many ways of using our resources and how we can implement them in our lives. The Sustainability Pavilion creates awareness of our social responsibility to environmental sustainability.

The Nebraska State Fair gives elementary students the opportunity to learn, as many of the local schools have a day at the fair as a learning field day. One of the stops that students make is to the Sustainability Pavilion. Central Community College students mentor elementary students, the community, peer students from other universities attending, as well as other Central Community College students inspiring hands on project ideas for next year. For example, The Zero Waste exhibit showed hands on examples of how a person can reduce their plastic waste by making your own home-made products that we use every day. Two examples that students were able to try were homemade toothpaste taste and make your own hand lotion.

The target audience for this program is to mentor elementary students, the community, peer students from other universities attending, as well as other Central Community College students inspiring hands on project ideas for next year. The main goal is to spread awareness of environmental stewardship and sustainability to individuals across the state. The Sustainability Pavilion is open everyday and projects are displayed throughout the duration of the Nebraska State Fair.

CCC ESO interns create four separate Earth month events yearly. We have an event for Earth day on the Grand Island campus, Hastings campus, Kearney center and Columbus campus. Each campus has their own theme and focus but is still connected to Earth day. We use the events to create an atmosphere of learning for students and the community. Grand Island Earth day is an early expo of our student projects on display, that mentors other students on the great hands on projects they are working on in class and for the Environmental Sustainability office. Putting the student projects on display gives a student the chance to find out what their fellow peer students are involved with and also to be educated on each project and how it connects to environmental sustainability. The expo also has other community organizations to provide more education on sustainability jobs, educational opportunities and recycling information for your community. Grand Island Earth day puts a focus on health, students are offered a walk around campus with fellow students organizing and are informed on the campus student bike share that is available to them at no cost.

CCC Hastings Earth day is a joint event planned by the HMRM department and ESO. ESO office has been a voice that helps educate the students creating the event details to have a zero-waste goal event. In 2017 and 2018 Bluestem energy gave wind turbine tours to the community and students. The tours inform how the wind turbine provides CCC Hastings with wind power. We have shown the use of a straw earth wall, to present sustainable living of the past, and how people are still building similar type homes known as ‘Earth Ships.’

Columbus Earth day displayed dioramas that local Columbus elementary students made. The student dioramas showed solutions to an environmental problem, and how the student would fix it. Columbus Earth day has had outside educators come in and give presentations. Natures Educators gave presentations on birds of prey and the importance of each one birds and why. The presenter brought birds in, and the students were able to see them live in person.

Kearney Center- CCC students toured the Kearney Outdoor Learning Area (KOLA) and how the site is being restored to its original wetland capability. Also a live raptor presentation educated students on the importance of raptors, preserve their habitat, and how to prevent critical injuries to this keystone species.

Target audience for this program is primarily CCC students, however some campuses reach out to younger students as well. Last year at the Columbus event, elementary students came to the campus and created found/recycled object sculptures.

Environmental Sustainability office interns mentor other students on hands on projects throughout the entire semester and through weekly meetings, as experts in the field and through support from the Environmental Sustainability Director as well.

America Recycles Day is an event held on the Columbus campus to promote recycling on campus and at home. The focus of this event is to help make recycling less confusing and more enjoyable. Another goal is to reduce the amount of waste produced, so outside vendors come to share their methods for reducing waste as well as recycle unavoidable waste products. The target audience is CCC Columbus students.