An important aspect of the Weed Warriors program is the establishment of mentor-student relationships, linking schools with a person or group from the local community who has a knowledge and commitment to environmental issues in their local area.
The role of the mentor is to help connect participating students to ‘place’ and environmental issues within their local community and to nurture the student's knowledge of and responsibility for local weed issues and to maintain a connection to them within and beyond the breeding phase of the program.
A Weed Warriors mentor may come from a broad range of experience and expertise. They may include people like a local weed or environmental officer, park rangers, community group members or group facilitators, conservationists, conservation volunteers or the land managers who are responsible for managing the infestation where students will release their biological control agent. The list is endless. Often the key contact plays the role of mentor to Weed Warriors schools.
Whoever the Weed Warriors mentor is they should be someone who can:
- Act as a provider of information
- Share knowledge and experiences
- Show initiative and commitment to nurturing the interests of the students
- Encourage and facilitate action
Click to download a copy of the Weed Warriors for Mentors information sheet
