Last summer, a group of 60 students gathered in Green Mountain, Vermont to study and develop solutions to climate change. They cross-referenced their passions and skills with their youthful influence. They identify climate challenges in their regions or communities. They wrote plans, detailed the timeline and imagined their impact, and then came up with ideas to experts on the site for feedback. Then, they returned to town and began to put their projects into practice.
We checked in with three of the students to see how their project unfolds. Their thinking reveals the fundamental challenges and strategies that cause change in the context of a global crisis.
Anna P., Vaishnavi S. and Katana K. participated in the 2024 summer course at Green Mountains Columbia Climate School, a two-week campus-based campus program for high schools interested in understanding climate challenges and leading solutions born. In the Green Mountains, students learn with like-minded companions and work closely with Colombian experts through lectures, field work, activities and tours. Ultimately, they created a climate action project that was implemented in their communities after the program was over.
Anna, a Virginia high school sophomore, was fascinated when she learned about the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) during a speech by coach Green Mountain. “I learned there are dozens of incentives, tax credits and discounts, but a lot of people don’t take advantage of them because it’s complicated; all of them are on different websites.” Anna’s desire to correct this problem inspired her climate Action items. She envisions creating a website that empowers users to access the benefits of IRA through incentive calculators, search tools and newsletters.
High school student Vaishnavi has worked with an energy manager in her hometown in Washington State to help identify solar buildings in her county when she arrived at Green Mountain. “Even if it’s hard to do this, what I really want to do is solar installation,” she said. She has determined her enthusiasm, but was pushed by expert feedback during the program to consider the details of the implementation. She continued to make progress in the Climate Action program with the aim of installing solar panels at K-12 schools in her area.
Sophomore Katana applied her school’s climate action club in her courses on climate change conception and climate change during the Green Mountains Program. Although she initially wanted to replace plastic cutlery in the cafeteria with reusable silverware, she quickly encountered obstacles, including a lack of community engagement and financial viability, a vital component of boarding support for sustainability programs. part. Now, she focuses on other cafeteria projects, including research on biodegradable cutlery options and expanding school composting capabilities, currently limited to one bin and few pick-up dates. In her words, “This is not cut for long-term changes.”
Vaishnavi also faced challenges. The solar approval process was time-consuming and the school official’s responsiveness was inconsistent with her own urgency. “What I learned when working with a state or city agency is that your priorities may differ from their priorities. I can make decisions that I can make until I am in a position of competence or influence. …I learned to be flexible with my goals and take the pace of government agencies. The best way is to try to do what I can and push when I keep my schedule,” she said.
Katana agrees. “You will have a lot of problems when you try to make changes in a very fixed system.” She also suggests “a balance between sticking but not sticking too much.”
Nevertheless, the three students found ways to make progress. They learned that change happens through collaboration. Vaishnavi advises: “Find people with the same goals and determination to achieve them.” She also recommends setting clear goals: “List all schools” [with potential for solar energy generation] In front of us, knowing what our goal is, now we only need to take steps to get there. ” She turned her attention to becoming an environmental engineer for renewable energy.
Katana will continue to work with her Climate Action Club and plans to take over the club’s leadership next year. She will push her school to do better: “Educational institutions want you to be a comprehensive individual, a future leader, a good communicator. If they expect from us, then when we really want to make a difference, they Wouldn’t be surprised.”
Anna will launch her website to unveil IRA incentives, “Save money and reduce emissions” In spring. She continues to find ways to increase user traffic to the website through social media and through community relationship building. Going to high school “I think there is power. I want to learn and learn more. But that’s one of my strengths, because I don’t have full-time jobs, have time to write, meet people and host meetings, and tell them about the project.” Anna explain.
“Young people have incredible strength in the climate movement and are stepping up community leaders and pushing forward positive solutions,” said Laurel Zaima-Sheehy, Assistant Director of K12 and Assistant Director of Continuing Education at Climate Schools. “We want to support students in developing a tangible next step framework so that their climate action projects can become a reality. The goal is to continue climate work long after the program is over. It’s our lifelong work!”
For more information on Columbia Climate School in the Green Mountain Program, explore our website and FAQs. Sign up for our preparatory mailing list here to keep up to date on summer and school years or email us at [email protected].
