Goals
1) Create an international online network of kids dedicated to “conservation through communication” and teach them to become voices for Nature (amplifying Koko’s voice).
2) Teach kids to sign, paint and learn about gorillas, motivated by Koko via her books, videos, stories, and loving nature.
3) Focus on sign language as a useful second language for everyone.
Why is this Important?
Kids love Koko. They also love Nature, and have a huge stake in how we take care of the environment and our fellow species today, as it’s their future! Thus it is both urgent and vitally important that we give kids hope and the tools to affect that future. Kids4Koko is a unique program where kids can learn about communicating with another species, while developing a greater understanding of that species, and playing a significant role in saving them.
It is also a forum where kids can communicate with each other and with leading scientists about their ideas, fears, hopes and dreams for creating a better future for humans, gorillas and all of Nature. It fills an essential gap in their education that can empower them to be next-generation conservationists and leaders, starting now!
Progress
1) A first-generation Kids4Koko website has been developed, at koko.org/kids4koko (= kids4koko.org).
2) Initial Zoom video interviews have been conducted with several industrious Kids4Koko members and posted at kids4koko.org
Plans
1) Create a monthly Kids4Koko video podcast, that features kids from around the world, communicating with each other, and with experts in the field of gorilla communication, care, and conservation. [ Dec. 2022 ]
2) Create a special Kids4Koko focus group in an African habitat country, like Uganda, Rwanda, Cameroon, Congo or Gabon, and learn how kids there view gorillas, in comparison to kids in the U.S.
[ Jan. 2023 ]
3) Create Kids4Koko curriculum modules that can be integrated into conventional K-12 classrooms (physical and virtual) [ Jul. 2023 ]
4) Integrate the best features of the Kids4Koko website into the KokoApp, so that kids have a custom user-interface for learning sign language, about Koko and about conservation, on handheld devices like smartphones. [ Dec. 2023 ]
5) Hold Kids4Koko Video Presentation Contests, establishing a forum for kids to present and discuss great ape conservation solutions, with the results posted at kids4koko.org. [ 2023 ]
