Get Involved                 

This is your guide on how to get involved with Our Future. Empower yourself by finding ways to take action and collaborate with others to make a bigger impact toward climate justice.

Club hub

Learn how to become part of Our Future's Eco Club Hub by visiting the FAQ's below!

Events

An Our Future event is something to look forward to! After being involved in the planning, all participating students are encouraged to attend events. This will be a great way to meet other students, and to get BIG things accomplished working together.

Event examples: school-wide (or statewide) “teach-ins” about climate change, a march to the courthouse or city hall, a fun and educational gathering with music/movies/games, or whatever students like you come up with. Students and adults will work together to find funding for events.

Resources

All resources (online or otherwise) will be designed to help you accomplish your goals. We will be working hard to provide some wonderful resources for you and the students in your club.

Examples of resources we can provide:

  • A listing of non-profit organizations that can help you accomplish your goals.
  • Funding sources we can help you apply for.
  • Leadership training opportunities.
  • Businesses that are willing to donate goods/services/money for your projects, etc.

In addition, we will be developing lesson plans that your school can use in-class to teach very important topics. These topics include: climate justice, civic engagement, and many others.

Collective projects

Collective Projects are what schools do together!

The network is all about sharing the projects you are in involved in. Examples: a letter writing campaign, working to change local/state legislation, helping your community to “go solar,” planting trees throughout your school district, or whatever it might be!

If you have an amazing project, that no one else in the network is in charge of, your school can be the lead to one of our collective projects! A project may be something that happens in your regional hub, or it may be something that is happening throughout Oregon. Students and adults will work together to find funding for collective projects.

Keeping in touch

Nothing is more important to a network than communication. Keep in touch by:

Reading this website! Right now you are taking advantage of the communication we have for you. There is a whole lot here to learn.

Sign up to participate. Using our Contact Form, you will be communicating to us what your school is doing, and how we can help!

Follow us on Instagram, and ‘like’ the Our Future Facebook page. These are great ways to keep in touch with the other students using social media to make Our Future a success.

Regional leaders

Each Our Future region represents one or more schools in an area. Together the schools in a region communicate through Regional Leaders: students who are working together to connect the various regions through the state through collective planning and project implementation.

Regional Leaders are currently meeting online to design guidelines to be used by school teams across Oregon. To become a Regional Leader (RL) you need to start out as a member of a school’s Our Future “Call to Action team,” and then you will be given the information you need to apply as an RL.

School teams

Each participating school will have an active team of students working to implement Our Future at their school. For some schools this team will be part of an existing club or group, while at others it will be its own entity. The team will align with guidelines made available by the statewide network, however it will have plenty of opportunities to decide for itself how to be structured (roles, accountability, communications, etc.)

Search for your school here.

Planning and projects

Each team will lead meetings, and actively engage each participating student in being part of planning and making decisions.

The most exciting part about Our Future is taking action. Once decisions are made, each school team will jump into action. Locally and globally we need to see significant reductions in carbon emissions, and the Our Future projects will be aligned with this goal. It is also essential to address climate justice — Black, Latinx, Indigenous, Asian, Pacific Islander, and other People of Color communities are disproportionately being affected by climate change; the needs of BIPOC communities will be a priority for Our Future with all projects, collaborations, activities and events.

Staff involvement

  • Our Future staff will ensure that communication between the schools, and across each region, is strong and effective.
  • We will work to ensure that all student participants have access to the tools they need to be successful leaders.
Regional leadership internship
This internship is for high school students, and is designed to last through April 2025 (with the opportunity to continue in the 2025-2026 school year for successful interns).

We are looking for students who will benefit from being involved, and who are committed to helping other students make this network as effective as possible.

Core Regional Leaders (approx 4hrs/week time commitment) receive up to $1000 for year-long participation in the internship. Assistant Regional Leaders (approx 2hrs/week) have the opportunity to receive up to $400 in "bonuses" for successful participation.

All interns have the opportunity to receive letters of recommendation and references for job/college applications.

Internship FAQ's

What is a Regional Leader?

• The Regional Leader (RL) student team is the "main hub" of this program.

• Students on this team communicate information, and opportunities for action and engagement, to the larger student population at their school.

• RLs keep the network strong by developing and leading projects, while creating partnerships and events that raise awareness of climate justice, climate action and student well-being.

Why is "Our Future" important?

In the words of Colt Gill, former Director of the Oregon Department of Education, "Climate change, environmental responsibility, and justice are closely tied to education, and therefore tied to the work that we do. I believe there is a lot more we can do, and it is programs like 'Our Future,' and the ideas and voices of our students, that can help shape the education system to help us create a better world for tomorrow.”

Who should apply?

If you are passionate about:

1. a healthier environment
2. a more stable global climate
3. the importance of racial equity and social justice
4. green-based jobs and careers

... then you are in the right place!

What are the main objectives of the Regional Leaders Team?

1. Develop ways to successfully integrate Our Future into your high school, and in schools across the state. This includes:
- Participation in both district and network-wide initiatives and projects;
- Outreach to the student body at your school to get more people engaged;
- Networking with other relevant clubs at your school to gain support.

2. Help recruit students to be on the "Our Future membership list." Students who say "yes" to being on this list will learn what Our Future is doing throughout the year, and have the opportunity to get involved whenever we send out a "call-to-action."

3. Move forward on projects that the RL group chooses to develop by participating in RL meetings, and implementing these projects at your school and across Oregon.

4. Develop leadership, organizational, and team-building skills, as well as become more educated about the climate crisis and the concepts of climate justice and well-being.

5. Have fun and meet other students passionate about these issues!

What is the time commitment?

A Core Regional Leader position requiresapproximately 4 hours per week (16 hours per month).

Assistant RLs commit to approximately 2hrs/week (8 hours per month).

Upcoming Events

Donation opportunities
Working directly with students online, PSS has a streamlined budget focused on connecting students with meaningful projects and educational opportunities related to climate action & climate justice. In addition, a part of every dollar you donate goes directly to the students through the stipend program we have for the program’s “Regional Leaders.” We deeply appreciate any support you can give, and ask you to forward our website info to others you know who may want to donate. Thank YOU!
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Our Future's "Eco Club Hub": FAQs

an aerial view of 9 sets of hands holding plant seedlings
Thank you for your interest in Our Future’s Eco Club Hub! Below is some important information about the program’s model, its goals, and what becoming an Our Future member school means. If you still have questions after reading this, please feel free to email us at ourfutureoregon@gmail.com.
Why should our school partner with Our Future?

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.
What are the expectations as an Our Future Member 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.
We’re interested! How do we get started?
  • 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 page to see what’s needed to apply for a sponsorship!
We are excited to work with you and your team, and together we will build Oregon’s first statewide “Eco Club Hub”!
Apply for an internship
Are you a high school student looking to join our team to address climate justice issues?
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