Meet the Conservation Cadets: The Cutest Eco Kids on the Web
Meet Flagler SIFE's Conservation Cadets. Kids giving grown-ups a crash course in the fundamentals of environmental sustainability in a way that is both informative and humorous.
Reducing water waste, increasing energy savings and recycling properly are just a few of the lessons eco-friendly elementary students are teaching to adults in the Conservation Cadets videos produced by Flagler College Students in Free Enterprise (Flagler SIFE) in St. Augustine, Fla.
“We wanted to come up with a new way to address our community’s needs concerning environmental sustainability,” says Flagler College sophomore PJ Mistry, project coordinator for Conservation Cadets. “We thought kids teaching adults would be a great way to do that. Kids have a great stake in the cause because it’s their future.”
Flagler SIFE students immediately began reaching out to local elementary schools. More than 50 Flagler co-eds traveled to 11 elementary schools, educating more than 3,000 children about recycling and distributing pledge cards to promote recycling at home.
“We had a crazy amount of teachers responding,” Mistry remembers. “E-mails were flowing in every day. So many people were interested in getting involved.”
After teaching green tips in more than 29 classrooms in the St. Augustine area, Flagler SIFE students were ready to begin casting their Conservation Cadets.
They held open auditions at Ketterlinus Elementary, which drew more than 50 elementary students. They eventually narrowed it down to seven cadets, most from Ketterlinus and a few from private schools in St. Augustine.
“We ended up with seven really fantastic kids that were wonderful to work with,” says Mistry. “We fit the characters to them, and they came up with some great ideas for us.”
Scripts are written by a Flagler communications class, and the videos are shot and produced by Flagler SIFE.
Since the adorable cadets were chosen, four humorous and educational videos have hit the Web, and browsers have been introduced to hilariously cute characters like Tony the Tough Guy and Jude the Measuring Dude.
Two more videos are previewed on Flagler SIFE’s website, and additional segments are in the works, including a video about hazardous waste disposal.
Flagler SIFE is gearing up to expand this project even further by developing a partnership with a local or national environmental organization.
“We eventually want to start making the videos solely for a single source,” says Mistry. “It’s been a little tricky so far, but everyone has responded really well to them. I feel like it’s only a matter of time before Conservation Cadets finds its place.”
The seven adorable stars ensure the viral videos will be a continual success, even before they find an exclusive home, and Flagler SIFE students can’t wait for the school year to begin so they can continue work on Conservation Cadets.
“We’re really happy about helping our community through this project,” says Mistry. “We can’t wait to bring it to an even wider viewing audience.”
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Grace
posted on July 23rd, 2010 at 7:32 pm
So cute! Great to see college students and elementary kids teaming up and using their creative talents to get the message out in new ways. Thanks for letting us know about the Conservation Cadets!
Gladys
posted on August 1st, 2010 at 8:02 am
I am so proud of these kids, they will grown up to be responsible adults. I wish everyone could conserve rain water rolling down from every roof top, we would have enough water for the gardens, flowers during dry season instead of just using tap water. Creating a water tank of buying on is not hard-Save water -Save the planet!