Inside the SSC > Trainings

Phone Trainings Schedule Now Available for Spring '07

Last semester the phone trainings conducted my the SSC and other member organizations of the Energy Action Coalition were a huge success. This semester we are hoping to build on what was done last semester. This is your opportunity for you as well as members of your group to get trained on a variety of skills to increase your effectiveness on campus with the Campus Climate Challenge. Click here for the full schedule and to register.

Now accepting applications to be Summer Program Directors and Trainers.

You can read about the Summer Programs below if you don't know about them already. If you do know about them, you know that you can't pass up the opportunity to be part of them this summer! Download a description of the responsibilities involved and applications below:

Director: Deadline for applications is Jan. 31

Trainer: Applications are being accepted on a rolling basis until all spots are full--apply early!

Learn about this summer's programs

The SSC's week-long summer training programs are the perfect opportunity to get the skills you need to organize, meet amazing student activists, and have a great time. As we head into four more rough years for the environment, there’s no better chance to add some tactics to your activist toolkit and get ready for the onslaught. Check out where we will be holding our summer programs and Find out more information and register online.

Why have Trainings?

Organizing is a skill just like any other. And like any other skill, it can be taught. The SSC’s Trainings Department serves that purpose—to provide students with an education in organizing, which includes everything from lobbying to campaign planning to recruiting members for your campus or high school group. Our trainings truly set the SSC apart from other student groups and our trainers have experience with materials that incorporate more than 100 years’ worth of the Sierra Club’s accumulated organizing expertise.

Local Trainings

Local trainings are a dynamic, snap-tastic way to get your group more involved in the SSC, train a generation of leaders, or learn new skills yourself. No student environmental group is perfect; we all face troublesome organizational problems and strategic hurdles. With over 50 trainers in the bureau, you are likely to find one who lives close to you.

The good news is that we SSC trainers are activists like you, working in the field to protect the environment; we know what the common pit-falls are—boring meetings; drawn-out, meandering discussions about t-shirt design; lack of focus—and know how to help remedy these organizational problems. Local trainings are carried out by members of our Trainers Committee, who have themselves been trained by the SSC. Your SSC trainers will work with you and your group to develop a training that nips those dilemmas, quandaries, and headaches in the bud.

Because we aim to tailor each local training to the needs of your group, each training is different: some run all weekend, some for just a Saturday, some for just an evening; some comprise several hour-long workshops, some just a few longer workshops. In any case, we seek to help equip your group with the tools essential to effecting environmental and social change. Some of the skills covered are: