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Admissions at Northland

Lake Superior Youth Symposium

The 2003 Lake Superior Youth Symposium: Embracing an Inland Sea, Living in Community Around Lake Superior was an amazing event! Northland College and the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute hosted 125 students and teachers from all corners of the Lake Superior watershed: Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan and Ontario.

Students learned what they can do to protect and enhance the wildlife, fisheries, forests, water quality and communities around Lake Superior. Students also learned about renewable energy, organic food production, hybrid cars, and energy-conserving building designs. The symposium emphasized environmental sustainability and empowered students to recognize that their personal actions can make a difference.

See the registration booklet (PDF) for more information about the symposium.

Quotes from the students:

  • I have never thought about looking at Lake Superior like it was my first time every time I go there. I have been inspired to use eco-friendly materials and products. This will help improve the environment.
  • I’ve been inspired to watch where I throw away my waste, watch what I use and how I use it, and respect the Lake and the people living around it.
  • I realized that change comes in little steps, and everything I do to help makes us one little step closer to a better world.
  • I have definitely been inspired this weekend to think about the impacts I have on the environment and the Lake with each action I do. I have been inspired to start a community garden at my school.
  • The whole thing was great. Thank you so much for putting this together. I walked away with a deeper love for the environment and Lake Superior, with more excitement for my future, and with a huge smiled on my face. This was an amazing experience. Thank you so much for the effort and energy (embodied J) that you put into this to make this one of the best experiences of my life, and I’m sure I’m not alone.
  • I learned more about geology, which has always been a passion of mine. I was thinking of becoming a geologist before I came here, and now I’m almost positive.

Every one of the students from the 2003 Youth Symposium (who will not have graduated from high school yet) said they would like to attend the Symposium in 2005! The 2005 Lake Superior Youth Symposium will be in Thunder Bay, Ontario, hosted by the Churchill High School.

Thank you to all the students, teacher, and participants who created a wonderful weekend of fun & learning about how to become better stewards of our Lake Superior communities.

Kelly Cornett & Carrie Woerdeman
2003 Symposium Coordinators