‍Benefits: 

• Access to project resources, guidance and templates;
  ‍
• Opportunities to attend workshops, hear from guest presenters, and learn about climate and environmental issues from professionals in Oregon;
  ‍
• Connect with like-minded students from other schools within their districts and across the state - share successes and challenges, and expand the breadth of knowledge accessible to all schools and eco clubs, everywhere!
  ‍
• Opportunity to apply for project sponsorship grants - school teams can apply for up to $500 to help plan and implement projects related to climate action and climate justice at your school. Choose a project that Our Future has resources for, or design your own and propose it!
  ‍
• Students learn useful skills such as project planning and management, budgeting, marketing and graphic design, and effective networking and communication, all while creating a stronger information base for other schools to benefit from in future years.
  ‍
• Your school will have a webpage on the Our Future website, where you can highlight your accomplishments and your club/team, creating an access point for more students to learn more and get involved at your school.

• ‍There is no cost to join Our Future and benefit from the resources the network has created and continues to create. As an official member school, your school is expected to choose at least one Our Future-sponsored initiative or project to engage in each school year. Visit the Our Future Member Schools page to learn more.

• Schools can choose from projects and initiatives involving cafeteria waste reduction, environmental and climate justice, legislative action and advocacy, and others–or, you can propose your own project, and even apply for funding support to make it happen! 

• As a member school, at least one student from your club/team and/or your team’s advisor needs to be willing to be a primary communication liaison for your school. This means you are willing to receive Our Future communications about upcoming opportunities for involvement, and act as a leader in working with Our Future on planning and completing your projects. In addition, the primary liaison is encouraged to connect monthly with other club leaders/liaisons from across the state to share knowledge and support each other’s work and efforts. 

• This is the true goal of Our Future: connecting student leaders statewide to amplify each other’s work and empower students to take action at a local level, while supporting a strong statewide network to further empower students in working together for change.
  ‍
• If your school chooses to apply for a project sponsorship grant, you will need to 
  a) submit a proposal (we will support you in developing this); 
  b) collaborate and communicate with Our Future during the project planning and implementation, and 
  c) be willing to share any resources or tips you learn along the way with the whole network so everyone can benefit from what you learned as a team from your project. This can be a short video, a presentation, or written materials that get posted to our website.

• Please fill out the short Our Future Membership Interest Form. This form shouldn’t take more than a few minutes, but it does require verification that someone from your club, along with your club advisor, agree to the expectations of being a member school (expectations listed above).
  ‍
• Once we have received your form, an Our Future staff person will reach out to your primary communications liaison and club advisor to schedule a planning meeting with your team.
  ‍
• Membership can begin at any point in the school year, even if your project’s implementation is planned for the next school year.
  ‍
• Review the project sponsorship information to see what’s needed to apply for a sponsorship!