Background:

The 11th annual Spokane Youth Environmental Conference (SYEC) was held on May 8, 2008, at Spokane Community College. The conference attracted about 150 middle and high school students and their teachers from throughout Spokane County. Students presented their environmental and health science-related projects in a series of concurrent conference sessions.

Conference Features:
The conference began in the morning with students gathering for the welcome and Opening Session.  Students then moved into the classrooms for the presentation sessions and poster session.  A sit-down lunch was served to the students, teachers and parent chaperones.  After lunch, another presentation session occurred, then all the students gather together again for the Closing Session and awards presentation.

• Registration/Check-in/Set-up: As students arrived, those with posters set them up on tables which were disbursed throughout the “common area” of SCC’s Student “Lair” building.

• Opening Session: To tie in with the conference theme "Climate Change Connections," Ally Gray, of WA Department of Ecology presented a shortened verion of the Inconvienent Truth presentation.

• Student Projects:  Students shared their projects in poster sessions and/or during oral presentations. 

• Break-Out Presentation Sessions: Two, 50-minute presentation sessions were scheduled for this year’s conference; one before lunch and one following lunch. Additional presentation rooms were added this year to accommodate an increase in student participants. A facilitator in each room introduced each presenter and a team of two evaluators reviewed the presentations and scored them based on a matrix.

• Poster Exhibition: Student posters were displayed in the main hallway of the Lair.

• Lunch: A sit-down lunch was provided to all participants, courtesy of the Spokane Regional Solid Waste System. During lunch, the students were challenged to come up with an environmental themed limerick or rap.

• Closing: The students joined in the Auditorium for the conference closing, which included part two of the Inconvienent Truth presentation. After the short presentation, students winning a superior award received a blue ribbon and a gift certificate to a locally owned store in Spokane County. Participating schools science departments received a cash grant, to help them purchase needed materials for their science department.

• Participating Schools: Congratulations to these schools and their students for participating in the 2008 Conference! 
  
  Central Valley High School, Deer Park Middle School, East Valley High School, Freeman Middle School, North Central High School, Riverside High School, St. George's and Welpinit High School.

• Superior Projects: Congratulations to the students for earning a “superior” rating for their project: