Learn About What Community Means
To learn about what community means and how you can make it stronger, have members of your group read the Community Lesson Script below. Act out the script with your group, or you can make a video to share with your town council, local school board, or online. If you decide to share online, be sure to have your parent’s permission and use the tag #BTheChangePatch.
Step 1 Activities
As part of the B the Change Patch Step 1,
please complete both Activities below.
Have fun.
Activity 1 - Community Lesson Script
This script can be adjusted for any number of actors. If there are only a few actors, give each person several parts. Review the script to see if there are specific examples from your community that can be included. Act out the script with your group
Setting: Stage this video in a classroom, around a family dinner table, or anywhere a group of people might get together for a lesson.
ADULT: Let’s take some time to talk about community. How many phrases with the word community can you think of?
FIRST ACTOR: Community swimming pool!
SECOND ACTOR: Community leader.
THIRD ACTOR: Community library!
FOURTH ACTOR: Community Service Badge.
FIFTH ACTOR: How about retirement community?
SIXTH ACTOR: And community spirit!
ADULT: Great! Now who can define “community”? Can you give some examples?
FIRST ACTOR: A community is a place where you live, work, and play, like my Jersey Shore community.
SECOND: Right. But it could also be a group of people that have something in common like their religion, or their nationality. So, I’m part of the Latino community and also part of my church community.
THIRD: Or a group of people that have some of the same interests, like my brother hangs out with the surfer community and my grandmother, and her friends, live in a retirement community.
FOURTH: My classroom is a community. So is my church.
ADULT: Great examples. Sounds like a community can be any kind of group connected by something they have in common – like where they live, their culture and beliefs, or their interests. Let’s talk about the community where you live, work, and play. What do you think would make it a strong and healthy community?
FIFTH: I think you need rules and strong, fair leaders.
SIXTH: And services like schools, banks, and shopping.
FIRST: And rec centers, with parks and bike paths.
ADULT: Who do you think is responsible for making and keeping your community strong and healthy?
FIRST: I just learned about this in school. The community helpers, like the police and fire fighters, keep our city safe. And the mayor and city council members have started a Better Together program.
SECOND: What about the people who live in the community?
ADULT: Right. Can you think of the things you can do to make your community healthy and strong?
THIRD: We can volunteer. That’s easy. There are lots of websites with great ideas for volunteering in my community, like DoSomething.org. Or you can research on the internet, “Volunteer Opportunities for kids.” There’s a bulletin board at the library, too. And, our school lists volunteer needs in the school newsletter.
FOURTH: Our troop just visited a recycle center and we learned how we can be environmental champions. We talked about what causes climate change and how to slow it down. We already have a recycle bin at home, so now we plan to start a recycling program at our school. My parents said we also need to pay attention to saving water and turning off lights to save electricity.
FIFTH: Using more reusable water bottles, shopping bags, and storage containers reduces waste.
SIXTH: We can shop at locally-owned businesses. That helps create jobs in our community. My family goes to the farmer’s market on the weekend. My dad says it is important to support local farmers, and the fruits and vegetables are so much fresher.
FIRST: And my mom always tries to shop at businesses that give back and do good.
ADULT: Right, ones that use business as a force for good. You can research stores where you shop and choose businesses, like B Corps, that make our communities stronger.
SECOND: Even if your community is in a city, you can find places to spend time in nature. In a park or community garden you can learn how to respect wildlife and what it takes to grow food. My mom has herbs growing in small pots on the window sill.
ADULT: Great job! You just showed that you are all community builders with great ideas! Keep thinking about what YOU can do for your community and get started.
Activity 2 - Research a Problem That Is Important to Your Group
Have a brainstorming session with your group. Identify the needs in your community by using the questions below.
• How are you defining community (school, town, neighborhood, etc.)?
• Who are the leaders of this community?
• List three problems that you see in your community. This can be something that affects your group or other people/places in the community.
• In what ways do you think your community could become more environmentally responsible?
• In what ways do you think your community could be healthier or promote healthy living?
• Are there ways in which your community could be more pet-friendly?
• Which of these problems make your group feel the most activated?
• Which of these problems would you like to help solve?
Activity 2 Applied to Unite for Earth Day 2022 -
The Orono Nature Center Needs a Spring Clean-up
Our community uses the Orono Nature Center for classes, activities, sports, and leisure. Why would it need to be cleaned up?
• People might litter or trash gets blown in the area
• Pathways get overgrown and have debris collect on them
• Bolts and ropes on benches and railings get loose over time
• During the year with wind, snow, rain, etc. tree limbs come down. We need to be careful and pay attention to where animals have their homes and may use the limbs there or for building elsewhere - so we don't clear them all.
• During some of the nature classes in Spring and Summer, some limbs/sticks are used to build shelters
• Firewood is used in the firepit at the learning circle
• Buckthorn plants are invasive species and take over more area in the Nature Center than we would want
• Areas for viewing and observing nature are used both for education and leisure
• Some dangerous limbs hang in the Nature Center after storms that could fall on people & animals. Removing these can also be dangerous, so only adults would clear them.
• Birdhouses may need to be emptied for new nests
• Birdfeeders may need to be cleaned and refilled
• Other reasons you can think of?