(San Francisco, CA) This Friday Nov, 14, 2008, 100 students from the new SF Environmental Service Learning Initiative (ESLI) will gather at the 7th Annual Green Festival for a comprehensive day of hands-on experience featuring a variety of lectures, activities, workshops, music, dance and art focused on the important role of youth in the emerging green economy.

ESLI—a pioneering citywide collaboration between city government, the school district and community-based organizations including Global Exchange and Community Educational Services—is working to develop SF students as environmental leaders for the 21st century. Over the next 2 years, ESLI will bring critical environmental education into seven SF high schools through a youth empowered service learning model.

"When people talk about 'Going Green' that's just a throw-away line," said Mayor Gavin Newsom. "If we want to really see meaningful results, we have to educate our students in environmental stewardship so they understand the consequences of inaction and the benefits of conservation. That's how you change the dialogue across the country and cultivate our future environmental leaders."

The SF Green Festival is the nation's largest green consumer living event and will launch its 7th year with the first-ever Green Festival Youth Unity Tent, put on by ESLI. Some of the workshops and lectures include Food Justice and Urban Agriculture, DIY!: Simple Ways to Live Green, Silence the Violence and Green Collar Jobs. Performances feature Indigenous dancers, Taiko drumming, Hip Hop artists and spoken word poets.

WHAT: SF ESLI Youth Unity Gathering
WHEN: Friday, Nov.14, 2008 10am-4pm
WHERE: SF Concourse Center @ 8th and Brannan: Green Festival youth Unity Tent

Contact: Sophie Lan Hou, Community Outreach Manager ESLI (415)255-7296, sophie@globalexchange.org

ESLI Partner Organizations: Global Exchange, Community Educational Services, San Francisco Department of Children, Youth and their Families, and San Francisco Unified School District. ###