Students concerned about what’s ahead for planet
Every spring for the last five years, Aaron Burke, the librarian at South Avenue Elementary in Beacon, has led students to nearby Fishkill Creek to stock the stream with 3-inch brown trout. While watching the 60 or so fish grow in a 55-gallon aquarium in the basement library, the children give them names like Fred and Bob.
Burke hopes to get kids to put down their video games and foster a love of nature. “There are very few kids playing outside,” he said. “If you don’t have any feelings about the environment, you’re not going to change your behavior.”
Burke is among a growing number of educators in the Highlands who are part of a climate-education movement, teaching students about the changing environment and helping address what has been called “climate anxiety.” One survey found that nearly 60 percent of students said they are “extremely worried” about climate change, while 85 percent are at least “moderately worried.”
Leah Alper, who teaches about climate change at Haldane in her environmental science elective, said she has seen that worry firsthand. “Students want to talk about it,” she said. Sofia Kelly, a junior who founded the Habitat Revival Club, which has 40 members, agreed. “We had 80-degree weather in October,” she said. “It’s frightening.”
“This generation is going to be facing real challenges with regard to climate change, and we need to start educating them accordingly,” said Greg Stowell, superintendent for the Garrison district, one of 53 schools designated by the U.S. Department of Education this year as a Green Ribbon School for environmental education, sustainability practices and improved health and wellness.
Last month, the state Department of Education unveiled a plan to include climate education in a widespread revamping of New York’s high school graduation requirements. A curriculum is expected by the fall of 2026.
New York is following the lead of a handful of states that have mandated climate education, including New Jersey, Connecticut, California and Illinois. Colorado high school graduates can receive a seal of climate literacy on their diplomas by demonstrating mastery.
About 75 percent of districts nationwide teach about climate change to some extent, according to a survey by the North American Association for Environmental Education. However, it also found teachers are concerned about the lack of standardized curricula and administrative support.
At Haldane, Christian Hoolan weaves climate-related lessons into his discrete mathematics class, an elective popular with seniors. For example, the class analyzed the cost of heating and cooling Hoolan’s home. “We dissected my Con Edison bill and figured out what it means when the price of energy is 8 cents per kilowatt-hour,” he said.
In the Garrison district, middle school students create journals in English and Language Arts classes about the environment. “We start with connecting kids to nature,” said Rachel Arbor, the director of environmental education. “Before we start learning about climate problems, we need to deal with our personal relationship with the environment.”
Arbor recently published an article in Environmental Education Research about how nature journaling can improve mood among middle schoolers. She was one of nine teachers nationwide selected this year to receive a Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators from the Environmental Protection Agency.
Arbor, who lives in Beacon, is leaving the district in January to focus on her consulting firm, Gaia Scholastic. The district has hired her successor, Christa Buccola Henriquez, and Stowell said it plans to continue to host an annual youth climate summit where area students and professionals come to Garrison to discuss climate-related topics.
