A message from Madi Vorva & Rhiannon Tomtishen, the founding members of “Oranguteens“, the teen branch of Forest School 101.

We would like to announce that a new teen division of Forest School 101 is officially beginning! This division has been designed by us, two teens from Michigan, for teens all across the country (and even the world) to come together and work towards saving the orangutan. We have designed a wiki (http://redapes.wikispaces.com), which will be our main link of communication. Posted on the wiki are various resources and tools as well as places for teens to work together to plan fundraisers and awareness events. We want to invite any teens interested in participating in this program to contact us at saveorangutans137 @ hotmail.com.

Madi and Rhiannon

Source: girl.com.au

Every individual matters. Every individual has a role to play. Every individual makes a difference.
~Dr. Jane Goodall

Our journey began four years ago, in the Fall of 2006. We met in 6th grade while playing basketball together on our school’s team. We soon became close friends and decided to earn our Girl Scout Bronze Award together. In order to do this, we had to raise awareness about an important issue in our community. We decided to raise awareness about orangutans and their rainforest habitat.

We did research and learned that orangutans were endangered for three main reasons; palm oil, deforestation, and the illegal pet trade. Rainforest land in Indonesia and Malaysia are cleared so that palm oil plantations can be planted. As a result of the land being cleared, the orangutans lose their habitat and suffer. Palm oil can be found in baked goods, candies and cosmetics. Deforestation is occurring at a rapid rate, mostly due to illegal logging. Rainforest trees are considered very valuable and as a result are often cut down and sold for furniture and other wood products. This too results in the orangutans losing their habitat. And the final main reason that orangutans are endangered is that they are illegal captured and sold as pets. Baby orangutans are very cute and as a result they can be sold for up to $60,000 on the black market. The conditions the orangutans are kept in are very harsh and often two thirds of the baby orangutans do not survive.

We began raising awareness in small ways, lugging around a home-made poster board and talking to local youth groups about orangutans and the rainforest. We also created a website (www.saveorangutan.bravehost.com) in the hopes of spreading the word even farther. At our school we founded a Middle School club called Awesome Animal Awareness, where we raised funds to protect endangered animals.

At the end of this we had completed enough service hours to earn our Bronze Award but neither one of us felt like we could stop there. After learning about the horrible things occurring in Indonesia and Malaysia to the orangutans and the rainforest, we knew that we had to continuing raising awareness and funds to save this magnificent species.

In November 2007, as 7th graders, we decided to hold National Orangutan Week (NOW) at our school to raise more awareness and funds. We made presentations to our entire 6th-12th grade and posted fun facts about the orangutan and the rainforest on lunch tables and bulletin boards throughout the school. We also sponsored a letter writing campaign for our grade which generated over 80 letters to companies that use palm oil in their products. We held various fundraising events including a palm-oil free bake sale and a Middle School Dance
. In total, we raised over $800 which was donated to orangutan conservation.

In the Spring of 2008 we were invited to attend the Great Lakes Roots and Shoots Regional Conference in Chicago. Roots and Shoot is Jane Goodall’s association for young people and at the conference we were given an opportunity to hear Dr. Goodall speak. We were also able to present our project to the other conference participants, including Dr. Goodall.

After returning from the Roots and Shoots conference and hearing Dr. Goodall give a very inspiring speech we were filled with a new sense of motivation and set out to accomplish great things.

We were contacted by Richard Zimmerman, the head of an organization named Orangutan Outreach. He had heard of our project and wanted to personally congratulate us on our work. He also offered us the chance to act as the founders of Forest School 101, Orangutan Outreach’s program for youth. We were thrilled and accepted his offer.

We worked with Forest School 101 and Orangutan Outreach, while continuing to raise awareness within our local community. In the Fall of 2008 we decided to hold National Orangutan Week at our school again, knowing what a success it had been the last year. We raised awareness through presentations and fun facts posted throughout the school. We also raised another $800 which was donated to orangutan conservation.

About this time we realized that Girl Scout Cookies contained palm oil, an ingredient that causes rainforest deforestation and as a result, endangers the orangutan. We found it ironic that the organization that had motivated us to begin this project in the first place, was contributing to the problem. We contacted the Girl Scouts National Headquarters but received a very disappointing response.

Although we were eventually granted a conference call with a few of the staff at the Girl Scout Headquarters, it was again very disappointing and little was done. We were discouraged, but emerged stronger and began to campaign for the removal of palm oil in Girl Scout Cookies.

While the Girl Scout claimed that their palm oil source was sustainable, reports have shown that the Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is not very green after all. A recent Greenpeace study reveled that the RSPO has no set standards for palm oil to meet in order for it to labeled as sustainable palm oil. The RSPO also does not follow up and inspect the plantation to ensure that the palm oil was in fact, being made in a sustainable way.

We launched various campaigns designed to raise awareness and support for this issue. We have created a petition (which was signed by Dr. Goodall), a letter writing campaign and a puzzle piece campaign where past and present Girl Scout Community members have decorated a blank puzzle piece with why they believe palm oil should be removed from Girl Scout Cookies and an alternative that is truly sustainable, and still trans-fat free like canola oil should be used. In addition we created a survey to generate market research, proving that consumers of Girl Scout Cookies would like palm oil to be removed (http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=OIajgqEcWgATq27Klr_2bQkg_3d_3d) We have now teamed up with Orangutan Outreach, and other individual sponsors to work toward this goal of removing palm oil from Girl Scout Cookies.

While removing palm oil from Girl Scout Cookies has been a main focus we have continued educate and raise money for the orangutans. Rhiannon moved to China for the 2009-2010 school year but even being apart could not stop us from continuing to work on the cause we started in middle school.

Madi held the third National Orangutan Week, raising nearly $900. At the end of National Orangutan Week, she visited the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago where she assisted orangutan zookeepers during an awareness day, teaching zoo visitors about the orangutan and their plight. Rhiannon has enjoyed educating her new school about orangutans, through various presentations.

Looking back over the past 4 years it is astonishing how much we have changed. We grew from shy, self-conscious girls, to young women who are strong, out-going , and are confident in themselves. This project has given us a set of values and skills that act as a foundation for many different aspects of our lives.

Through this project, we have learned that the best things in life are not about the awards. We’ve realized that what matters the most is what you accomplish, not what award you wear on your vest. When you love something and have a passion for it, you don’t take ‘no’ for a answer. When you follow your dreams and keep working, you will find a way to achieve your goal.

We’ve had to fight through many obstacles and have overcome many challenges. We’ve encountered glitches and setbacks, and there have times when it’s seemed like nothing would go right. But by working together and persevering the two of us have managed to overcome each of the obstacles that have stood in our way, becoming stronger people with each struggle.

We are two girls trying to make a difference in a world of adults and we have had to prove ourselves over and over again. Opportunities haven’t been handed to us on a silver platter but we’ve found that when you have to work hard to earn them, you appreciate them so much more.

Perhaps the most important thing that we’ve learned from this project is that anyone can be a leader. Age, gender or race, should not prevent a person from standing up for what they believe in. If you see a problem in your community, then you should take action and make your voice heard. We’ve spent the past 4 years proving ourselves to those that didn’t believe that 14 year old girls could be advocates.

We believe that Girl.com.au is a great site, because it promotes the idea of girl power. We wholeheartedly support this idea. As two successful girl advocates, we believe that we can show other girls that if they work hard enough, they can achieve anything they set their minds to.

We ask you to consider helping us tell our story and show other girls that they too can become an advocate for a cause they believe in.

Sincerely,

Madison Vorva and Rhiannon Tomtishen

Visit kidcommand.com

Today, Collin Caneva will take his Kid Command virtual world live. The world, targeted to kids and tweens, hopes to instill an appreciation of the environment and world’s fragile eco-system. As the growth of virtual worlds, social networks and web-based entertainment explodes, Omaha-based Caneva hopes to carve out a special place in that digital eco-system that will taps kids’ curiosity and innate intelligence, talking up to their intellect rather than down.

“We live in an age with two of the greatest teaching devices — the TV and the computer. Unfortunately, they’re not used to their potential (most of the time). Instead of an ‘experience,’ kids are fed brain-mush,” says Caneva. “That’s where we want to differentiate ourselves,” he says of Kid Command.

Virtual Worlds News had a chance to speak with Caneva, founder of Green Bein’ Productions, Inc., just prior to the full launch this evening.

Virtual Worlds News: Just how close to launching Kid Command are you?

Collin Caneva: We’ve completed our beta testing and will host a full launch the night of November 10th.

VWN: With all the heavily promoted virtual world properties available to kids, how can the smaller efforts stand out? What are your marketing and promotional plans for Kid Command?

CC: The goal with Kid Command has always been to offer kids something different than what was and is currently available. You can go to free gaming sites and see a ton of stand-alone games and virtual world options that look interchangeable. Many other online experiences take kids out of the real world and into a make believe world that is simplistic, not to mention materialistic. Instead, Kid Command brings the world to each child’s fingertips and aims to create an excitement about places and things that really exist. Some of the most amazing art forms, the most wonderful medicinal advances, the most awesome projects in the history of the world that have been inspired by beautiful places around the globe. While it is certainly a priority to be fantastically entertaining, we want that entertainment to inspire kids to go out into the world and do great things.

VWN: How do you stand out?

CC: We are working on aligning ourselves with organizations that share our goal of empowering kids. Schools, after-school programs, scouts, etc. are groups we are targeting through ad campaigns, participation in conferences, and word of mouth buzz. In addition, we are actively reaching out to environmental, non-profit, and educational organizations to create mutually beneficial cross-marketing relationships.

VWN: What are your goals when it comes to registered and active users and what are Kid Command’s stats now?

CC: I read that currently there are approximately 15 million kids online. My goal for our partnering companies and ours is to have 14.9 million of them learning from and experiencing Kid Command. Seriously, as of today, we have a significant number of pre-registrations, which is great! We’ve also received great feedback/interest from educators and potential partnering companies.

VWN: You mention the team that created Kid Command as one drawing on skills from an entrepreneur, a musician, a business analyst, a computer programmer, an after-school enrichment program director, a medical physician, an attorney, a banker, a script writer and two award-winning programming and design teams. That’s quite an assortment of skill sets which created the world. How did you integrate specialties?

CC: The great thing about our team is that we all came to this project with a unique set of skills and creative experiences; and that has been very helpful. If we had all seen things the same way, I don’t think our project would have turned out nearly as interesting. Was it a challenge to unify the vision? In the beginning, sure. But the bumpy moments were worth it. When one of us didn’t think of a cool idea, another one on our team did, so our differences have actually helped unify our team because we tend to compliment one another.

Integrating the specialties was not as big a challenge as you might think. In the beginning, we all wore different hats and as time went on, we kept the hats that fit us as individuals; and curriculums were assigned to team members who needed to grow in specific areas. We worked remotely from our different geographic regions, using voice over IP, and looked at our situation as if we had virtual cubicles — we couldn’t see one another, but we could talk to a team member at will. Our project management system was also a valuable tool in keeping us unified and accountable. It was rather smooth, all things considered. The great thing about our team, is that everyone is pushing with the same passion — our kids and their future.

VWN: The Kid Command story isn’t such a tough one to sell to moms and dads, but how do you get kids to try out content that has a message, especially with so much branded content and existing (and popular) worlds already online.

CC: The bottom line is this: if kids think it’s lame they won’t play it. So, while our mission has always been to raise the bar in terms of purposeful content, we knew that first and foremost we had to give kids fun. The way we get kids to try it is by making it such a blast that friends tell their friends about it. We’ve always said that we don’t want kids to learn about Kid Command from grown-ups but from their peers. With that in mind, we have designed our world to appeal to kids before parents.

VWN: Do you have any partners lined up?

CC: We’ve reached out to many organizations just to make them aware of what we are setting out to do. Kid Command is not a tough sell so we have gotten plenty of great feedback and interest. But organizations want to see more and who could blame them? We are excited to go back to these groups after launch with a fully functioning world. Currently we are working with the Boy Scouts of America, Orangutan Outreach, Forest School 101, a number of children’s zoos, Tree Pals, and we will be at the Green Festival in San Francisco in mid-November (which is a huge eco-event that will put us in front of companies and organizations that share our vision for a healthier planet).

VWN: As the kids manage their avatars, what sorts of activities will they have the opportunity to do?

CC: They’ll be able to customize their avatar, travel to multiple terrains while playing and learning about multiple eco-systems. They’ll be able to watch high-def videos with entertaining content pertinent to the regions, play entertaining min-games built around those regions, build a virtual passport that will enable the players to monitor where they’ve been in the world, who their “friends” are, any game assets they’ve accumulated, and also check their “world health” system. They’ll also be able to socialize with other children around the world, and decide whether or not they want to accept region-specific challenges that will take the players through platform-style/multi-level games depicting the areas they’re visiting.

VWN: What is the intellectual takeaway you are aiming the players to experience?

CC: Quite a few, such as increase their knowledge about worldwide environmental issues, learn positive eco-habits and build 21st century skills, gain an appreciation for world geography and literacy, become more responsible and proactive in the areas of: Environmental conservation, wildlife protection, and diversity, develop an excitement for travel and adventure, learn to give back in the form of compassion and philanthropy, and see how working together on a small scale can make a big difference.

VWN: What’s the revenue model behind the game?

CC: Monthly, bi-annual, and annual memberships. However, all educational content provided to us by our partnering companies will be able to be accessed by a free account. A substantial portion of the revenue generated by paid memberships will be used to fund our “Grant Program” that can be applied for by our partnering companies.

VWN: How did you fund Kid Command?

CC: Private investors.

VWN: What’s the best advice you can give an aspiring entrepreneur who is considering starting a virtual world?

CC: Don’t be a follower, put the customers’ — in our case, the kids — best interest before yours; you may not be the most popular at first, but stick to your mission no matter what, but be able to adapt along the way; and above all — have a great team (legal, financial, design etc.) and a plan in place before anything. We spent months planning and organizing our team before any programming was done.

VWN: Do you have kids of your own? If so, are they involved in the product? Did they offer any inspiration?

CC: Yes. A son, 9, and a daughter, 7. And yes, after homework and outside activities, they get to offer their advice and opinions. It’s the most honest feedback I get. If games or content sucks, believe me, they tell me.

Yes. After seeing what was available for the kids, I was disappointed and challenged them to design something they would play. I thought they would ignore me like they do when I ask them to clean up after themselves. They surprised me in a way that changed my life — my son even drew and colored the world’s interface. That picture is still in my office.

VWN: Is there anything for parents or grandparents to do on the site?

CC: Parent Command is a free supplement to the Kid Command virtual world that offers parents, grandparents, and educators a consolidated view of information on their kids accounts. Parent Command allows grown-ups to: review the conversations kids have in the world, oversee and control the time spent playing in the world, follow the learning that kids are absorbing while playing, have access to site enhancements and events, receive news and coupons from partnering companies/groups, and have access to their environmental and educational concerns, and learn easy eco-tips and family activities.

VWN: What is it you want Kid Command to teach?

CC: What we want kids to learn from Kid Command is a greater sense of awareness and compassion for other cultures and our planet. We hope kids take action together so that our planet is great place to live for years to come. We also want to provide experiences for kids that they may not otherwise get.

VWN: On the area of virtual worlds, is there a creator or product out there you especially admire? If so, who/what is it and why do you admire them?

CC: I admire companies that break the mold and are creative in their games and content. I don’t have any one person or company in specific, I’m just tired of the same old “frilly” sites that undermine the intelligence of kids and pre-teens. I guess if there was a company that I truly admired, I would’ve contacted them for a job. Simply put, we feel that the youth of the world, needs Kid Command.

I guess of anyone, I admire our team. They have taken my vision and surpassed my expectations. I feel truly blessed to be affiliated with these people.

VWN: What platform is the world built on?

CC: We are using flex 3 framework, playing on flash player, and using smart-fox to send info between client and server. Our world is platform independent or web-based. All logic is performed on the server side, not the client — for security purposes

VWN: Thanks Collin for your time. Best of luck.

Allison Boyer’s love for orangutans started when she was 7 years old when she began doing research on primates. Koko the gorilla had made a huge impression on her and she even wrote to her!

Allison began to read as much as she could about all the different kinds of primates and kept coming back to the orangutan. According to her mother, Pam, it was becoming clear that this was to be her one true love. The great red apes were in danger and Allison felt she had to save them.

She asked her mom to help figure out what she could do to stop the rain forest destruction. When she found out about the palm oil plantations she started going through the cupboards in her home and became enraged at how many products contained palm oil. On 7-7-7 her town had a peace day celebration and Allison went to the park and handed out fliers to everyone explaining about the palm oil crisis and how the orangutan was in danger. She began to to tell the kids at school about palm oil and memorized all the foods that contained palm oil so that she would not “accidentally” consume the thing that was killing her friends, the orangutans. All of this still did not seem to be enough so she convinced her mom to start an after school club so she could continue to spread the word.

The Marigold Roots and Shoots Club was born! During the club Allison talked to the kids about the danger the orangutan was facing. They came up with Borneo Bob, a flat orangutan who travels the world in an envelope telling kids about how his home is being destroyed and how they can help. They sent Borneo Bob to 250 schools across the United States challenging kids to get involved and do something about the rain forest destruction. Then all of the kids in the club wrote to companies that use palm oil in their products and asked them to stop, to find alternatives.

For Halloween Allison dressed up as an orangutan and went door to door handing out fliers explaining how palm oil is in candy and that it is destroying the rain forest. She informed over 150 very confused people that night. Allison has been on the local news and in a local paper for her efforts.

She recently helped coordinate a celebration at the Sacramento Zoo for National Orangutan Week. They earned $150 for the orangutans.

In her own town, her school and as well as a couple others raised a combined $506 and adopted 3 orangutans from Orangutan Outreach! They also purchased some Rambuntan trees! The schools that got involved were Emma Wilson, Little Chico Creek and Marigold Elementary, where Allison is in the fifth grade G.A.T.E program.

Little know facts about Allie:
1) She is known at her school and around town as “the orangutan girl”
2) She plans on moving to Borneo as soon as she turns 18 and can get a plane ticket!

Urban and Ginger, the Sacramento Zoo’s lovely Sumatran Orangutans

Marigold Roots & Shoots website

Sacramento Zoo Orangutans
http://sacramentozoo.blogspot.com/2009/01/orangutan-video-blog.html

Visit the Papercraft Museum online to make your own super cool paper orangutan!

http://www.papercraftmuseum.com/samatran-orangutan/#comment-318

Isabella goes ape over palm oil products
By CARLY TAWHIAO – Auckland City Harbour News | Friday, 19 September 2008

Young conservationist: Isabella Wilson, 10, led a campaign against palm oil to help save orang-utans. Photo: JASON OXENHAM/Auckland City Harbour News

“Truly amazing.”

That’s how Isabella Wilson felt after being named Young Conservationist of the Year.

She won Auckland Zoo’s inaugural award last week for her commitment to orang-utan conservation.

“I absolutely screamed,” the 10-year-old says.

“It feels amazing – like I could change the world.”

Isabella campaigned against palm oil because of its toll on the orangutan’s natural jungle habitat.

“The orangutans aren’t doing anything to us, but we are killing them,” she says.

“We all need to stop buying products that contain palm oil from these countries and demand manufacturers to use other sources of vegetable oil.”

Isabella became aware of the issue after visiting the orang-utan enclosure at the zoo in February.

She immediately set out to rid her pantry of products containing palm oil, and her grandparents and neighbours; too.

The Pt Chevalier Primary pupil also gave a presentation to her school about the threat palm oil production, resulting in the school removing products containing palm oil from the tuck-shop.

Auckland Zoo conservation officer Peter Fraser commends Isabella for standing up for what she believes in, even though it has involved personal sacrifice. “She is a shining example of how people with passion and drive can really make a difference,” he says.

Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/sundaystartimes/auckland/4697242a6497.html

Last May, as the school year was drawing to a close, 9-year-old Kegan Miller gave a presentation on orangutans to his classmates.

Kegan is involved in the Academically Talented Program at Martin Luther King, Jr. School in Westwood in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He is currently 9 years old and has entered the 4th grade for the 2008-09 school year.

Kegan had decided that he wanted to raise money to help protect orangutans so he came up with an action plan that included advertising to do odd jobs before and after school (His dad is a teacher there.) When all was said and done, Kegan had managed to raise $57 for Orangutan Outreach.

In order to prepare for his presentation, Kegan made several trips to the Toledo Zoo to learn more about orangutans. After doing his research, he prepared visual aids for the speech and finally gave the speech in front of his classmates.

Thank you for caring about the orangutans, Kegan! We’ve sent you a surprise to show our appreciation!