A short history of the Roots and Shoots program goes a little like this: Roots and Shoots is an organization started by Dr. Jane Goodall.  While at her home in Tanzania, Africa, 16 kids from the village came to her and said that they would like to see change in the way animals were treated in their community.  With Dr. Jane’s help, the kids were able to see that the animals were treated with more care and respect.  The movement began to grow after that. Kids everywhere started to want to create change in their community.  There are now Roots and Shoots groups in over one hundred countries around the entire world.  Here is a quote from Dr. Jane on the groups around the world:

Roots creep underground everywhere and make a firm foundation. Shoots seem very weak, but to reach the light, they can break open brick walls. Imagine that the brick walls are all the problems we have inflicted on our planet. Hundreds of thousands of roots & shoots, hundreds of thousands of young people around the world, can break through these walls. We CAN change the world.

- Dr. Jane

We try to do three projects per year.  One dealing with social issues, one dealing with environmental issues and one dealing with animal issues.  Our projects now include a teen club, a mini-project dealing with elephants and a garden project.

We will be updating this blog about once a week, dealing mainly with our projects and experiences that we have had in the community.

Welcome to the blog, and we hope you enjoy reading!

- The RSBP Planet Protectors

The Buttonwood Park Zoo has partnered with the Jane Goodall Institute to bring a special opportunity to students of southeastern Massachusetts: The RS BPZoo Planet Protectors!

The RS BPZoo Planet Protectors are an impassioned group of youth from the New Bedford and Dartmouth areas that are acting as ambassadors to our community and working to improve our most important community assets: our local animal populations, the environment, and the human condition.

The Planet Protectors operate under the auspices of the international youth service program Roots and Shoots.  This program gives youth with the opportunity to asses their community, acknowledge its strengths and weakness, and design service projects that will benefit the greater good.

The program is designed to empower students by giving them the tools, resources, and outlets to BE THE CHANGE they want to see in our world.

In 2007 our members wrote letters of comfort to Kenyan youth that have been victims of war, implemented a campaign for increased government protection of the endangered Right Whale, acted as Bristol County representatives for a regional youth summit, participated in regional events, and many more projects.

The Planet Protectors are seeking 10 new delegates to join the program and are hoping one of your students will be a good fit. The successful candidates will:

• Be motivated and passionate about the environment, animals, and/or the human condition
• Currently enrolled in grades 7-12
• Be given the opportunity to design and implement projects on and off of zoo grounds
• Gain skills relating to youth leadership, public speaking and community engagement
• Make connections with an international network of like-minded environmentalists and humanitarians

If you have a student or child that is determined to change the world please have them visit the Planet Protectors Page on our website, complete the application, and/or email rootsnshoots@bpzoo.org.   Admission to the program is rolling.

For more information about this amazing FREE program, print the information page or contact Erine Anderson, Volunteer Coordinator for the Buttonwood Park Zoo by emailing eanderson@bpzoo.org or calling (508)991-4556 ext.19.    To learn more about Roots & Shoots visit www.rootsandshoots.org.