Youth Mentor Award

ALMA, QUEBEC

Over 16 years, EJG’s Wildlife Resources Program has been helping kids discover the joys of nature and the many ways to experience it.

Begun as a way of lowering rising dropout rates in an economically depressed area, the wildlife program has offered more than 1,700 young people fun and inspiring out-of-classroom learning that enhances academic performance when back inside.

Field trips, led by educators who are passionate about the environment, explore an array of subjects: among them ornithology, entomol- ogy, mycology, botany, habitat enhancement, resource management, survival skills, as well as fishing, hunting and nature observation.

Wildlife benefit too: program participants over the years have helped save countless ducks, bluebirds, swallows, and bats. They have erected more than a thousand nesting boxes and roosts.

Jean Gaudreault, science teacher, coordinator of the Wildlife Resources Program: The Covid19 pandemic has made me so much more aware that we all need to be in nature. The benefits are physical and psychological. It is how we can restore balance to our lives. Our program’s message is: Follow your calling. Don’t be discouraged by obstacles, just take your path one step at a time. Every positive action is another step forward. What is important is the journey, not the end.

This award honours an individual or group that has made a significant contribution in creating or presenting programs that introduce youth to the importance of conservation, habitat and wildlife.