YPS Sonnet- Show me the LOVE!

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love thy dorms and tasty dining hall food,

Late-night Harry Potter viewing par-tay

And meeting my roommate, a really cool dude.

I love thy tales of the wee desert tortoise

And the stakeholders who came to the table

With a common interest and purpose

To come to consensus, if they are able.

I love thy exciting mediation sessions

Where we can haggle and negotiate

All the while keeping in mind the lessons

To find a solution that’s really top-rate.

I love thee so much I will tell all my friends

Youth Policy Summit is what I recommends!

Why YPS? Part I

Policy Analysis and Research Skills: The Youth Policy Summit challenges students to examine an important public policy issue in depth.  Starting in the spring semester of their junior or senior year of high school, participants undertake a comprehensive research project about the Summit topic- water resources, urban sustainability, or energy issues- to understand the basics and meet the players involved.

Throughout the Summit week participants build on this base of knowledge through research, group discussion and a morning spent interviewing experts in the field.  Once students feel that they have a strong understanding of the public policy issue, YPS facilitators guide them through a mediation process that requires participants to not only apply what they have learned, but to find creative solutions based on their research.  YPS participants are gaining practical research skills and applying them to solve a tough problem, making learning fun, interactive and rewarding!

Exciting Opportunity for YPS Alumni!

Calling all YPS alums who are currently working on an undergraduate degree- This is a fantastic opportunity to build on what you learned at YPS, gain valuable hands-on experience and spend a week in one of the most beautiful places in the West- Jackson, WY!


The Rocky Mountain Sustainability and Science Network Summer Academy is a one-week NSF funded program providing intensive training to students prior to either entering internships or jobs on public lands, or embarking on summer research projects related to environmental science, climate change, or sustainability.

Instructors include university professors as well as leaders from government agencies and non-profit organizations. The format will include field lectures, discussions, field applications, and social networking. Students who complete the program requirements will receive a Certificate in Global Leadership and Sustainability.
To be eligible, students must be full-time, degree-seeking undergraduates with career interests related to natural or cultural resource management, environmental science, or management of public lands.

TO learn more or to apply, click HERE to visit the RMSSN Academy Website, or go to http://rmssnacademy.colostate.edu/ 

Alumni Video Contest - Win awesome prizes!

In case you haven't heard, YPS has a new video! Featuring 2010 and 2011 alumni Avery, David, Elaine & Megan, it is pretttttyyyy awesome (we sure think so) Check out the video here: Youth Policy Summit: An Alumni Perspective We challenge you to create your own YPS video and enter the Alumni Video Contest to win great prizes! Possible topics include: your YPS experience; what you learned; your policy recommendations; presentations or action projects you've done since YPS; why others should consider attending a program. Official Rules: Submissions must be under 2 minutes long, and will be accepted until March 15, 2012.  Videos must focus on your YPS experience, and creativity is encouraged! Interview a friend or teacher who attended the program with you, provide your own voice-over, sing a song about YPS, act out a skit...have fun!   Please remember that all videos must contain appropriate images and language. Your video must be your own work, and must not infringe the copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, or other personal or proprietary rights of any person or entity. If your video does not comply with these rules, your submission will be eliminated.  How to Enter: Upload your video to YouTube.   Send an email to Jessye (jcrothstein@keystone.org) with your name; the name of your video project; a link to your video and the following statement: "All persons appearing in the video have given permission to be videotaped and for the video to be publicly displayed on YouTube." We will post your video to the contest on YouTube. Share your video link with friends! The video with the most likes on March 15 will win the Peoples Choice Award - a $100 gift card to Amazon! YPS staff will pick a second winner based on video originality and content. The winner of the YPS Choice Award will win an iPod shuffle! Both winners' videos will be featured on the YPS website.  The sooner we get your submission, the sooner you can start getting votes!!

Youth Policy Summit Video Release Party!

By video release party, we mean virtual celebration! All the A-list celebs will be there...

We are so excited about the first ever YPS official video! It features clips from a presentation that 4 of our alumni did at the NCSSSMST Conference this fall in Austin, TX. They are incredibly well spoken, and do a great job of describing the YPS experience. We hope this video will be a nice snippet for alumni to remember their time at YPS and helpful for perspective students to get a better sense of the program. Share it on Facebook, like it on YouTube, watch it every day, and give major props to Avery, David, Elaine & Megan for making it happen!

YPS Welcomes Alumni Ambassadors!

Happy 2012! It's a new year, with new exciting developments happening at The Keystone Center. The list of 2012 Youth Policy Summit programs is finalized and on the website - now we just have to find 240 amazing high school students up to the task of solving our nation's biggest problems. No big deal...

We are constantly blabbing about our alumni and how amazing they are, but only because it is entirely true. As we embark on a new recruitment season, we realized that no one is more familiar with the programs, better equipped to answer questions from students, or tapped into high school networks than our brilliant alums. We hope alumni from 2004 through 2011 will join our efforts to promote YPS and get motivated, diverse peers and friends involved in 2012 programs. And best of all, their hard work will be rewarded with a new title to put on a resume or just discuss at family dinners ("You didn't know I am an ambassador?!"): Alumni Ambassador. Check out the brand new Alumni Ambassador page on the website, and contact us to join today!

USGBC Blog Highlights YPS Alumni!

Last week, 8 students from the 2011 National YPS program came to DC to present their policy recommendations to agencies across DC. Write-up coming soon!!

In the meantime, check out the USGBC blog entry on the students' prensentation. We are so proud of their hard work!!

http://centerforgreenschools.org/utility-nav/blog/11-11-07/National_Youth_Policy_Summit_Students_Present_Energy-Usage_Goals.aspx