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Finding new and original ways to engage students is not an easy task but the Canadian Wildlife Federation can help. CWF offers a growing family of innovative wildlife conservation educator programs that are used by more than 100,000 Canadian educators across the country.

"WILD Education programs are giving youth unprecedented access to knowledge vital to the well-being of our lands and waters" says CWF Executive Vice-President Wade Luzny. "It's based on the premise that young Canadians have a vital interest in learning about their natural world, how their actions affect the sustainability of life on our planet, and how they can become responsible inhabitants of the Earth."

The main learning objectives to all WILD Education programs remain the same- inspire youth to value our natural world while instilling a sense of responsible stewardship through habitat projects in them. The program achieves these goals, first, by cultivating students' awareness of conservation principles and, second, through hands-on habitat projects that enable participants to turn awareness into action.

Not only are schools going green, they're also becoming blue. Launched in 1998, the Blue School program, part of CWF's WILD Education program, encourages youth to raise awareness about ocean conservation and to make the Earth a bluer planet. Becoming ocean-friendly is a reachable goal for every school in Canada because it means achieving important goals such as helping to prevent marine pollution, conserving aquatic habitat and celebrating Oceans Day on June 8th of each year.

WILD School is another great way to create hands-on opportunities for students to actively participate in wildlife conservation. Each year students from coast to coast undertake wildlife habitat improvement projects in their school yards and communities. Not only does wildlife, like bears, bats and bees, benefit from these noble efforts; so do young Canadians, who learn that all life forms, including people, are creatures of habitat.

"Students need to understand that marine ecosystems are critical to the well-being of every life form on this blue planet. No matter where we live, from the dampest shorelines and marshlands to the driest grasslands and timberlands, our everyday actions impact on the oceans that give us life," says Luzny.

To learn more about all WILD Education programs and how you can get involved, visit WildEducation.org.