BOCES New Tactic To Fight Climate Change
The Dutchess Board of Cooperative Educational Services’ (BOCES) recently established Center for Sustainability and Climate Education is working to engage K-12 students and faculty to transform the Hudson Valley into a more ecologically sustainable community, amid a global pandemic.
Established during the 2020–2021 school year, the board was inspired by youth activist Greta Thunberg, who expressed “What’s the point of attending school if schools are ignoring the most substantial crisis facing the planet?” in late 2018 while holding a sign that stated “School Strike for Climate.”
This message resonated with the BOCES, which prompted them to take action. The board partnered with their well-known and respected colleagues from the The Ashokan Center, Scenic Hudson, The Cloud Institute, Omega Institute for Holistic Studies, and the Mid-Hudson Teacher Center to initiate experiential learning opportunities.
The Ashokan Center has been involved in sustainability education for many years, and was the inspiration behind this initiative. The center’s first ever 3 day youth climate summit entitled YESS! (Youth Empowerment and Sustainability Summit), which was an international event including 21 schools from the UK and Sweden, as well as the local Hudson Valley, NYC and Adirondacks, helped inspire the idea of creating an ongoing program involving climate education for schools.
Dan Shornstein, The Ashokan Center Education Director explained, “Deputy Superintendent, Cora Stempel of DC BOCES, Dorna Schroeter, co director of YESS!, Jaime Cloud and I had a breakfast meeting following the summit and the idea of a new Center for Sustainability and Climate Education was born.”
Through a mixture of interactive, hands-on curriculum, sustainability and climate education are being intertwined into curricula, student empowerment activities, community engagement and the built environment. According to the center, “developing leaders, designing curriculum, and educating students about active environmental stewardship are at the core of the Center’s operations.”
BOCES Science Staff Specialist Terrence McKiernan expressed the importance of hands-on learning saying, “Years of educational research and experience teaches us that students flourish when they experience and engage with the world around them in a way that is authentic. When I look at ways that I’d like to see our Center impact education, I want to help teachers find ways for their students to directly impact their communities in a way that leaves a legacy for the next cohort of students to pick up where they left off.”
In order to achieve this goal, McKiernan continued, “This gets done by getting students to: engage with their local governments, do the work of preserving their local ecosystems, advocate for sustainable initiatives with community groups and so much more. Those are the outdoor learning techniques that I want to help implement, because those are the techniques and experiences that are going to help students change the world while becoming more engaged in their own learning.”
The Ashokan Center’s collaborative educational efforts with BOCES have “been moving away learning about the natural world as part of an interesting field trip to the focus on ‘learning from nature’ in order to be part of a new problem solving approach to promote biodiversity and address solutions regarding climate change,” shared Shornstein. He continued, “We have created active investigations with schools to learn about invasive species, watershed studies and the role of pollinators in the local ecosystem. Students are drawn to active hands-on learning and often leave inspired to want to make a difference in the world.”
Due to the pandemic, schools and educators were unable to visit the Ashokan and most of the other partners during this past year, but compensated for this disruption by implementing innovative techniques and through a series of virtual, educational alternatives on Climate Science and Action. Staff Specialist McKierman explained, “There have certainly been more opportunities for teachers to work with students outside, hop on video calls to collaborate with colleagues and try new things within the classroom.”
The Dutchess District comprises 13 schools, totalling roughly 39,000 students; but according to the BOCES, the center is available to any school district that wants to utilize it’s services. This effort not only brings awareness to the ecological issues that are being faced, but it enhances the opportunity to further promote the need for action and environmental change.
Ulster District first grade teacher, Annie Saunders said, “At that young age, we don’t mention climate change per se, but it’s important that we talk about conserving energy, using less paper, and avoid cutting down trees because those are things that we rely on. It’s important that we as teachers help our students establish an appreciation for nature, and help them recognize how important it is.”
It’s evident that we are facing an uncontrollable global pandemic that took the world by surprise; but it’s to no surprise that our world is undergoing a climate crisis in which its impacts are already being felt on a global basis. The difference is, there are ways in which we humans can respond to this disruption, take appropriate action, make use of these resources, and make a change for the betterment of the world.
One of the keys for change is through the education of the youth. “The more students understand the problem, the more they can become part of the solution and also consider careers to support green infrastructure and education,” shared Shornstein. He continued that, “students are becoming more aware of the need for environmental change and, “they want to do something to make a difference.”
