"What I Learned at the Youth Climate Strike"
In 2019, educator and parent Emily Hoyler, took part in the Youth Climate Strike, along with her three children. And they recorded it for our podcast.
Telling the Story of Sustainability
Education for Sustainability (EFS) provides ways for students to pursue meaningful, real-world learning with profound effects on how they view themselves and their communities. But don't take our word for it: listen, watch, and read these stories of education for sustainability in action, making a difference in students' lives.
VIDEO STORIES OF SUSTAINABILITY
Making Real, Sustainable Change in the Northeast Kingdom
8th graders at Burke Town School, in West Burke VT, took up the UN's challenge to embrace 17 Global Goals for Sustainability.
They built bike trails for their school, grew a garden, built a beehive, threw a fundraising walk and planted trees in their community.
With the help of some community partners and the support of their school, they're making real change in their community.
Think globally; act like these 8th graders.
Sustainability & Service Learning in Southern VT
At Leland & Gray Union Middle High School, students decided to make their school a more inspiring place to learn.
They put in flower boxes, painted murals, planted a garden, assembled a forest nature walk and built an outdoor classroom -- all in one week.
Closing the Farm-to-School Loop with a Chicken Coop
How do you get fresh eggs on a school menu? Students at The Dorset School, in Dorset VT, did it by researching, designing and building their own school chicken coop.
They crowd-sourced donations for materials and had some hands-on help from community members, and now The Dorset School is home to some very happy chickens. We talked with some of the students involved in this project, about what they learned.
One Semester in the Wilderness
At Green Mountain High School, in Chester VT, students can choose to spend a full semester out in the woods.
Half their days are spent inside with a bouldering wall, archery demonstrations and learning labs. But if the weather's nice (and even when it's not) they head into the woods to learn such survival skills as camouflage, building waterproof shelters and starting fires.
Hear from some of GMUHS' Wilderness Semester students on what makes this program so amazing.
Building Up STEAM at Ottauquechee
At Ottauquechee School, in Quechee VT, this year students are embarking on STEAM Time, a specific time in their day where they engage with a portable makerspace and explore making through the lens of design thinking.
They reflect on ways to improve the planet and turn the activity of making into creating things with purpose. It's STEAM Time.
Cultivating Pathways to the Cougar Co-op
The Cougar Co-op at Crossett Brook Middle School, in Duxbury VT, is a student-run business that operates under a sustainable mission. It's guided by the UN's 17 Sustainable Global Goals. It began at the 2017 Cultivating Pathways to Sustainability Conference, in Shelburne VT, and has expanded as students take the lead in designing, sourcing, producing and managing products that meet Global Goals #11 and 12, Sustainable Cities & Communities, and Responsible Production & Consumption.
The Waterbury/Duxbury VT community has been instrumental in helping Crossett Brook students launch their co-op; the co-op then returns their profits to those community businesses that helped them launch, as well as other organizations in need, that help sustain the larger community.
Measuring Air Quality in Shelburne
At Shelburne Community School, in Shelburne VT, 8th grade students are tackling the impact of idling traffic in their community.
Along with teacher Lisa Phelps, they're measuring the effects of idling traffic in the school's pick-up and drop-off circle on air quality. They explain their methods, as well as some of their results, and the reactions of some community members. Then we hear from the community members.
Upcoming Events
May 19, 3:30pm EST: "Unpacking Education for Sustainability": Ever wondered how sustainability goes beyond reduce, reuse, recycle? Emily Hoyler, Jen Cirillo, & Aimee Arandia Østensen unpack education for sustainability's power for the classroom. Save the date.
Stories of Sustainability
- Personalized Learning in the Spring Garden - Emily Hoyler
- 4 Ways Students Are Tackling the UN Global Goals in Vermont - Emily Hoyler
- How to Build an Anti-Racist Bookshelf - Jeanie Phillips & Aimee Arandia Østensen
- 4 Tales of Outdoor Education in Vermont - Audrey Homan
- How Mobile Devices Can Enhance Field Trips - Susan Hennessey