RDCK

The Regional District of Central Kootenay (RDCK) is a local government that serves an estimated population of 60,000 residents in South Eastern British Columbia. Schools in the RDCK 11 electoral areas (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K) and nine member municipalities: Castlegar, Creston, Kaslo, Nakusp, Nelson, New Denver, Salmo, Silverton, and Slocan can apply to access this program. 

There are limited free spots availabe. Teachers will be notified via email on xxxx if their request has been accepted. The website will be updated when all spots are filled. There will be another opportunity to access free programs in 2025/26 school year. FutureMakers is available for purchase via the Outdoor Learning Store

Once you have completed the registration form you will be notified by email that your registration has been received. Please whitelist futuremakers@wildsight.ca to ensure our emails do not get sent to your junk mail. Registrations will be reviewed and allocated on xxxx. Teachers will be notified if they have received a program by this date. Allocations will be made based to ensure a wide represetation of locations throughout the RDCK. /p>

All the program resources are located on the easy-to-use FutureMakers website. Once registration has been approved, RDCK teachers will receive an email with the details to access the password-protected website resources. Once logged in, click play on the Prep video to get started.  

FutureMakers is designed for students in grades 4 through 7.

Research has shown that many of our youth don’t even have the tools to imagine anything but an apocalyptic future for themselves and the importance of hope, grounded in truth, in presenting complex environmental topics. Instead of starting with all of the shocking statistics, depressing facts, and stories of despair, FutureMakers helps students dream of a safe, clean, and thriving future, a future they are happy to see themselves as a part of. As psychologist Renee Lertzman argues, there is a delicate balance that must be considered between holding our conflicted feelings about the state of the future.

The FutureMakers online program is valued at $250. FutureMakers is also available for sale via the Outdoor Learning Store

FutureMakers was developed based on the success of the Beyond Recycling program that has spent almost 2 decades developing environmental educational resources for youth. Teachers rave about the year-long deep dive into sustainability that brings an environmental educator into the classroom weekly. In 2021, over 90 Beyond Recycling teachers were surveyed to provide feedback to define the ideal environmental education resource. Then our team of 12 professional environmental educators gathered to review teacher feedback and develop an impactful new series of independent BR teacher lesson resources. The aim was to develop easy-to-use resource for busy classroom teacher that helps students address their future with a perspective of hope. In 2022/23, 9 teachers piloted the new environmental education resources. Participating teachers utilized the program and shared their experience, and brilliant mind. Their feedback was utilized to adapt and improve the program building another program that teachers cannot say enough good things about.. 

Since 1987, Wildsight has been recognized as a leader in large-scale conservation, sustainable community initiatives, and environmental education. Wildsight is a registered charity. While our work focuses on the Kootenays, and has received recognition from the communities in which we work, we are renowned throughout the province and across Canada for our effective conservation and environmental education programs, excellence, and innovation in all that we do. At our heart, we are a grassroots organization, harnessing our power from the people whose lives affect and are affected by our work. We strive to inspire a conservation ethic in our children and in our communities so that the future leaders of tomorrow will be equipped to deal with the challenges of sustainability. Since 2001, Wildsight Education programs have connected over 90,000 kids with the natural world. 

The FutureMakers program ties into the BC curriculum in many ways with direct links to science, social studies, applied skills, design, and technology. The BC curriculum’s ADST design guidelines are used as a base for the final culminating activity. The extension buffet also includes curriculum-connected activities as part of the program extensions  (i.e. English Language Arts, Arts, Mathematics). Specific links to the curriculum will be included in future versions of the program.