Youth across the Gulf South face compounding risks, extreme heat, stronger storms, flash flooding, and declining air and water quality, alongside everyday pressures like poverty, food insecurity, rising utility costs, along with political hostility and instability. Our session shows how a nature-based, place-based model closes the gap between “knowing” and “doing” while cultivating whole-person resilience. Students in high-exposure neighborhoods learn outdoors through focused field labs and local site visits, then translate observations into simple improvements and clear data stories for school and community decision-makers. Equally, we build the social-emotional skills that help youth withstand and adapt to stress, structured reflection, teamwork routines, peer leadership, and mentoring,so they can respond to psychological strain, environmental hazards, and economic burdens together. 

We introduce youth in high-exposure communities to the natural world and the everyday systems around them, then use place-based learning to connect environmental change with the social and economic challenges they already see. Across three six-week Saturday School sessions and a six-week Summer School on an HBCU campus, students learn in urban and natural settings, practice observation and simple measurement, and reflect on root causes. The curriculum builds environmental literacy alongside whole-person skills, communication, teamwork, problem framing, and resilience, so participants can name the challenges they face and imagine practical, future-focused solutions.

Learning extends beyond the classroom through community-facing events where students share their work and contribute in visible ways. A Junior Counselor Mentoring track develops youth leaders who are environmentally aware and trained in core supports (mental-health first aid awareness, conflict mediation, basic first aid, and peer mentorship). Often a first paid role, the track adds job-readiness and college-prep enrichment, creating a leadership pipeline equipped to help implement the changes our community needs—safely, credibly, and with growing confidence.

Attendees of this session  will leave with insights for a ready-to-run, place-based model they can adopt next semester: a simple cadence, field-tested lab checklists and safety SOPs, a field-trip rubric that pairs built-environment sites with cultural anchors, and a plug-and-play Junior Counselor track to grow youth leaders. We will share our evaluation toolkit, along with summary results from Years 1–2. Participants can will benefit form our candid lessons learned on logistics, partnerships, and maintenance,and concrete refinements for next year so you can avoid friction and scale what works.