Platt students dive deep into climate policy, jobs and activism during day-long workshop

Only a couple weeks into the new semester, Boulder Valley School District students were already immersed in the challenges we face due to climate change and considering how they might take action. During a special workshop, organized like a conference at Platt Middle School, groups of students from Platt and Louisville middle schools, as well as Centaurus and Fairview high schools moved from session to session over the course of a Thursday morning, learning about everything from climate-related careers and art to climate justice to the legislative process and how they can participate, by testifying.

“It's been really interesting. We've been able to gain a lot of perspective and hear from a number of different people from the community. They’ve talked about the sustainability goals our community has, rating your home’s efficiency, plus we’ve been able to take part in fun activities, like art,” Platt Middle School student Harper Hatch said while putting the finishing touches on a postcard that read “Climate Education is the Root of Change.”

“I'm just really happy that our community has put together,” Harper added. “This event is giving students an opportunity to learn about climate in ways we haven’t before.”

In some of the classrooms, sessions were led by students from the University of Colorado Boulder and a variety of high schools, including Centaurus and Fairview in the Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) and Thomas Jefferson in Denver Public Schools.

Meanwhile, in the Platt library, Commissioner Ashley Stolzmann was on one side, speaking to students about Boulder County’s efforts to decrease greenhouse gas emotions and Boulder Chamber Policy Programs Specialist Devin Edgley was on the other, encouraging students to think about what they’d like to do after school that could help.

“This is a really fun day,” Edgley said. “It's a great opportunity for us to connect with students, educate more on climate resiliency and to encourage action to mitigate our climate crisis.”

During her segment, Edgley encouraged students to consider what brings them joy, what they are good at and what work needs to be done as they consider what climate-related work might be of interest to them. This is in alignment with BVSD’s Discover Your Dream career exploration programs, which aim to connect middle school students with speakers from the community during career learning activities and fairs.

“The idea is to help young people brainstorm, what do you have to offer that could be beneficial to the world?”

The special workshop was organized by the same nonprofit that helped to develop the new Climate Literacy for Environmental Action and Resilience (CLEAR) curriculum being used at Platt and schools across BVSD.

“Our partners at Classrooms for Climate Action contacted us and said, ‘Hey, how about we kick off the semester with a workshop?” Platt Middle School science teacher John Mattson recalled. “Our kids are super excited. We are trying to motivate them to do something big and help make a difference. This is a great place to start.”  

Throughout the course of this semester students will be encouraged to start with individual projects to help address climate change-related issues. Eventually the goal is to coalesce into a bigger, school-wide project.

The workshop was a perfect way to kick off the effort, because taking on climate change can seem overwhelming.

“You know, sometimes it can feel far too big and not just for kids but everybody,” Mattson said.

“We are trying to strike that balance between giving hope and helping them feel like they're part of the solution, and then educating them and making sure they know the realities of the situation,” Platt Middle School science teacher Heidi Reeg said.

“Something like this creates a kind of confidence that we can do something about this,” Mattson added. “We are starting this first week with individual impact, then community impact, and eventually systemic impact.”

In addition to the new CLEAR classes, Platt is also offering a Junior Seal of Climate Literacy, for students who embark on their journey to earn Colorado’s Seal of Climate Literacy at graduation.