Preserve America Youth Summit: empower our youth to save our nation's historic places.

Preserve America Youth Summits provides on-site, interactive learning experiences for students and educators which engage them in the study of historic preservation, conservation, and heritage tourism with the goal of motivating them to become future stewards of historic communities, sites and land, shape policy at the local state and national level, and provide lasting impact on communities for generations to come.

The Preserve America Youth Summit is a national program that offers middle and high school students, teachers, and service leaders a unique immersion in the saving and sharing of our nation’s historic places. Summits are not just field trips, service projects or history lessons, but provide immersive sensory-based experiences that are multi-disciplinary. Youth gain invaluable experience treated as “consultants” providing ideas and producing recommendations on critical current issues. This experience empowers youth to learn more about history, culture, and historic preservation, as well as provides community service opportunity through service projects.

Students, chaperones, and teachers have described the Summit as one of the most memorable experiences of their lives!At the Summits, students gain valuable leadership, communication, and organizational skills. Students are afforded the opportunity to participate in real-life advocacy, service learning, and policy shaping experiences that both prepare them for advancing their education and work in the 21^st century. It is also fun!

The 2022 Colorado Preserve America Youth Summit: Next Generation Stewards Increasing Resiliency will be held in the Grand Junction area June 6-9, 2022, highlighting the Colorado National Monument and historic places in region.

The theme will focus on “Increasing Resiliency” to provide opportunities to explore resiliency in many facets of self-improvement with the backdrop of public lands and historic places. Students and teachers have dealt with unprecedented challenges to learning in recent years due to the impacts of Covid. The Resiliency theme will allow for discussions on the need for personal resiliency after years of limitations on education and community engagementimpacting students and teachers and provoking social and health issues. Also, many of our most valued historic and natural treasures have experienced increased threats during the Covid epidemic as result of increased use and visitation and frequency of vandalism.

The Summit is presented as partner program of Conservation Legacy, a national nonprofit organization. The Summits are funded by both federal, state, and private sources to ensure no cost to selected students and teachers including lodging, meals, program costs and transportation.

The June 2022 Summit was originally scheduled for summer of 2021 with full funding. Unfortunately, due to the Delta variant that impacted the Mesa County area last summer, the Summit was postponed to 2022. With this rescheduling, part of the awarded funding from the National Park Service expired with the end of the federal fiscal year leaving a budget shortfall. of $19,000.

We remain committed to proceed with the Summit but are seeking additional funding support to offset the expenses of providing lodging, motorcoach transportation, meals, entrance fees, administration, insurance, liability coverage and meeting space rental.

I hope you would consider a gift of $5,000 or $2,500 towards our goal. We can offer many opportunities for recognition based on your interests. I would like to tailor the acknowledgement on signage, press, printed materials, social media, and other outlets to meet your needs.

Your gift would go to Conservation Legacy, a national nonprofit and would offer a fully deductible gift as allowed to a 501(c)3.