For the past three weeks staff from the college’s Institute on Community Integration have been in Costa Rica working with high school students from Minnesota and Costa Rica on student-led Inclusive Service Learning projects addressing climate change. The work was part of the institute project, American Youth Leadership Program: Learning to Serve, Serving to Learn, which pairs high school students with and without disabilities from the School of Environmental Studies in Apple Valley, with Costa Rican students from Liceo de Poás High School, for a year of inclusive service learning.

The Minnesota students spent the past three weeks in Costa Rica partnering with the Costa Rican students on a number of projects. These included presenting a series of lessons on climate change, the local watershed, and recycling to over 250 elementary school students and 50 members of a community center for senior citizens; working with the city of San Rafael to increase awareness of a new recycling program through community education; and creating community art designed to attract attention to the issues associated with climate change.

The program gives students an opportunity to meet community needs while also developing leadership skills, expanding their cross-cultural knowledge, and overcoming social barriers that often separate students with and without disabilities. To learn more see http://aylp-costarica.org or contact Brian Abery (abery001@umn.edu) or Renata Ticha (tich0018@umn.edu).