About ewf

earth wellness festival is an annual event offered to fifth-grade students of Lancaster County, Nebraska. This environmental education program was conceived in 1994 as the result of a petition request of 325+ local teachers who wanted an environmental festival in their own community. Today, earth wellness festival has impacted over 51,000 youth.

Students attending earth wellness festival experience science as an essential and exciting part of their lives. The festival is a culminating event reinforcing concepts introduced to students through current environmental curriculum like 4-H school enrichment.

The festival provides students with a 25-minute creative and "hands-on"/engaging learning experience in each area of water, land, air and living resources. The students participate in a culminating activity with raptors from the World Bird Sanctuary from St. Louis, Missouri.

earth wellness festival organizers work closely with local schools to ensure the activities and materials correspond with their fifth-grade curriculum. Educators, environmentalists and government representatives are utilized as the 300 presenters and volunteers for earth wellness festival.

Year-Round Learning

Kits For Kids: earth wellness festival fosters year-round opportunities for students and teachers to link environmental issues with science-based curriculum. In October, a unique pre-festival learning kit is provided to classrooms attending the festival. Each kit contains curriculum and all the supplies (beans, rocks, vinegar, flashlights, magnifying glasses, pH paper and more) needed to complete 20+ activities covering topics in soils (land), water, air, living resources and impact.

Walk the Talk: A recycling program implemented at the festival substantially reduces waste generated by participants. An attractive station located in the college cafeteria collects recyclable items. Festival organizers, with the help of many supporters, are able to practice what they teach.

Partner Agencies

The earth wellness festival steering committee is comprised of representatives from local educational resource agencies. The outstanding collaboration and cooperation of the committee is one reason for the festival's continued success. The partners in this project are:

• University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension in Lancaster County
• Lower Platte South Natural Resources District
• City of Lincoln
• Keep Nebraska Beautiful
• Lincoln/Lancaster County Health Department
• Lincoln Public Schools
• National Drought Mitigation Center
• Southeast Community College-Lincoln
• University of Nebraska-Lincoln Environmental Studies Program
• University of Nebraska-Lincoln School of Natural Resources