How Does It Work?

STUDENTS - This is your alliance! It is important that you take a lead role by:

  • Building and growing the connections between schools - locally and throughout Oregon
  • Showing up to meetings, and completing tasks that you commit to.
  • Taking the skills and knowledge learned from Our Future back into your school.
  • Using the resources that Our Future, and the many related partner organizations, have for you to use.

How Can We Help?

  • Our Future staff will ensure that communication between the schools, in each regional hub, is strong and effective.
  • We will work to ensure that all student participants have access to the tools they need to be successful leaders.

Let's get started! In order to connect you to the alliance, it is important to understand: regional hubs, communication, collective projects, events, resources, and all that Our Future has to offer.

Regional Hubs

Each regional hub represents one or more schools in an area. Together the schools in a hub communicate, and work to make the world a brighter place through collective projects. 

  • Meetings: At each regional hub meeting you will report on what your school is doing. You will also have the chance to share any ideas you have for collective projects. In-person meetings happen twice each month, and occasionally we will have phone/online conferencing webinars to connect with students in other cities.
  • Between Meetings: You, and the other students in your club, should be active in making your school a home for sustainability and social justice. The more that you do and accomplish, the more you will have to share with other schools, making the alliance stronger and stronger.

Communication

Nothing is more important to an alliance than communication. Here's a list of AMAZINGLY important ways to keep in touch:

  • Read 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 online form, you will be communicating to us what your school is doing, and how we can help!
  • Join the Facebook Group, 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.

Collective Projects

Collective Projects are what schools do together!

  • The alliance is all about sharing the projects you are in involved in.
  • Here are example projects: 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 alliance 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.

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.

  • Here are some examples of resources we can provide you: 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.

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.

  • Here are some 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.