GVMC believes that educating and engaging youth is critical in increasing the
effectiveness of local government and bringing a higher quality of life
to the area. GVMC's services to area schools include the following:
Local Government Curriculum - GVMC has partnered
with the Civics Institute, MML, MTA, and MAC to offer a turn-key curriculum
package and in-service program for teachers on local government. The
program has been designed specifically to target knowledge areas covered
in the MEAP test. The curriculum is available free of charge through
the Civics Institute at www.civicsinstitute.com.
An in-service program is currently being developed in a DVD format so
that instructors can access it at their convenience.
Speakers Elected Officials - GVMC also works to pair schools and local officials who can speak from experience and offer first hand knowledge in local government administration and issues. To request a speaker Contact Gayle McCrath at mccrathg@gvmc.org or 776.7613.
Speakers Regional Issues GVMC is becoming this
area's source for a great variety of information on the important issues
facing our metropolitan region. Staff expertise covers subject areas
such as land use planning, demographics, transportation planning, data
management and more. If you would like a presentation on any of these
topics - Contact Gayle McCrath at mccrathg@gvmc.org
or 776.7613
This Land is Your Land, Land Use Curriculum - MSU Extension.
The Kent MSU extension has developed a land use curriculum targeted
at 3rd 5th grades titled This Land is Your Land. The program is
available to teachers free of charge from the Kent MSU Extension at
http://web4.msue.msu.edu/msuewc/kent/yourland/.
Clean Air Action GVMC and the West Michigan Clean
Air Coalition are very active in the education of ground-level ozone
and fine particulate matter and its effects on our health and the environment.
Partnerships have been developed with businesses, educational institutions,
government and non-profit groups to work together to achieve cleaner
air in the region through community education and the promotion of voluntary
emission reduction activities. For more information, please visit www.wmcac.org.
To schedule a presentation to your class, scout troop, social organization,
etc. contact Andrea Faber at andrea.faber@gvmc.org
or 776.7603.
Amtrak / Westrain As a member of the Westrain
Coalition, GVMC actively supports and promotes usage of Amtrak lines.
Westrain is a passenger rail collaborative that promotes the Amtrak
- Pere Marquette line in West Michigan. The train runs daily from Grand
Rapids to Chicago while making stops along the way in Holland, St. Joseph/Benton
Harbor, Bangor, and New Buffalo. To find out more about WESTRAIN go
to www.gvmc.org/transportation/Westrain.shtml.
To schedule a speaker on the benefits of Amtrak and/or Westrain, contact
Gayle McCrath at mccrathg@gvmc.org
or 776.7613.
