EarthEcho International, a nonprofit environmental education and youth leadership organization working to restore and protect the water planet, today announced a program to involve millions of U.S. middle and high school students.

The Water Planet Challenge program, announced during the Clinton Global Initiative fifth annual meeting in New York, intends to foster tomorrow’s conservation leaders. EarthEcho says the program will fill a critical need in America’s classrooms, where it sees the lack of unified ocean and fresh-water systems education and service-learning content.

Philippe Cousteau

“Water is the single most precious substance on the planet. It is not only a universal entry point to environmental issues, it is also a universal necessity of our everyday lives,” EarthEcho International Co-Founder and CEO Philippe Cousteau said in a statement. “Though the natural environment is a leading interest of students currently participating in service experiences, there is very little content that exists to support them. If we truly want to save what my grandfather called our water planet then we must arm youth with the knowledge, skills and tools to take action to do so.”

EarthEcho International is a nonprofit founded by siblings Philippe and Alexandra Cousteau in honor of their father Philippe Cousteau Sr., the son of the legendary explorer Jacques Yves Cousteau.

Set to launch in January 2010, the Water Planet Challenge will provide middle and high school students with access to service-learning lesson plans created by Youth HandsOn Network that model multiple service opportunities (volunteerism, consumer campaigns, product development, and civic action) to support the health of the environment, and position local action within a global context. Students and teachers also will have access to standards-aligned ocean and water-related curriculum enhancement content for middle and high school students. The results of the project will be measured through digital tracking tools designed specifically for this effort by Validifi Technologies.

Planet Green, the cable and Internet channel, is the media partner for the Challenge, while Discovery Education will serve as one of the education partners. EarthEcho says the effort will be the largest environmental service-learning program in the country.