Kicking off a Year of Cultivating Sustainable Pathways

They gathered in the Coach Barn courtyard, around tables indoors, or clustered in any quiet corner they could find within the barn's great halls. Ten middle-school teams (100 students), and seven high-school teams (65 students) each rallied around a United Nations Sustainable Development Goal that resonated with them. Then, they began brainstorming, planning, and plotting out a year-long project to address that goal.

Supporting fish habitat... advocating for racial justice... creating bike trails... strategizing for the Youth Rally for the Climate... lobbying for youth voter registration...  school gardens to better serve families in need.  The event is all about activating change, now and in the future.

Student voice is essential for creating healthy and just communities. Cultivating Pathways to Sustainability brings that voice to the forefront. We think of it as a partnership between teachers and students. The students bring the creativity, curiosity and ambition, while teachers act as facilitators and amplifiers of student voice.

The energy of these two days was palpable. How will these teams use it to fuel their projects? We'll find out at the end of school year when we gather again to share how school teams turned their ideas into action!

(If you want to see the energy behind the UN Sustainable Development Goals, check out this video.)