Reshawndra Hutchins-Trapp is fascinated by the environment and takes every opportunity to share her interest with seventh graders at the Elite Scholars Academy, a Jonesboro magnet school.
“My students are really interested in the world around them, and they’ve noticed changes within their own neighborhoods,” she said. “When we hit the ecology section, they’re instantly drawn in. They can see it’s a valuable topic.”
The students’ interest increased dramatically when Hutchins-Trapp told them about the Clayton County school district’s partnership with the Captain Planet Foundation’s Climate Justice Challenge for fifth through 12th graders. The foundation’s mission is to encourage young people to be problem solvers around issues that impact the planet. Over the next two months, Clayton students will work on projects to uncover challenges in their own communities around the themes of healthy soils, food systems, renewable energy and transportation.
The challenge kicked off in early January when 150 students spent the day engaging in a variety of hands-on activities and listening to guest speakers from the Atlanta Hawks and the regional EPA office. Participants took what they learned back to their schools where teams were organized to take on environmental problems.
Creating the partnership began last spring when Janetta Greenwood, the district’s K-12 academic science coordinator, was looking for ways to engage students around climate.
“I reached out to the Captain Planet Foundation for speakers who could address how climate issues disproportionately impact communities of color,” she said. “The foundation was really interested in touching multiple schools. The idea was to partner around a challenge for our schools that could potentially be duplicated in other districts across the nation.”
Greenwood views the partnership as a plus for Clayton students. “I know they are typically passionate about their communities and improving them, and I saw this as an opportunity to address academic and social goals at the same time.”
Greenwood worked with Captain Planet officials to plan the challenge and to provide training for the district’s 30 teachers who signed on to participate. Over the next two months, students will hear from more speakers and take part in activities as they work on their ideas.
“The idea is to help them digest the complexity of climate change, the impact on their communities and how they can make a difference,” said Greenwood. “The challenge blends social science and science together in a nice way.”
Hutchins-Trapp is working with about 20 middle- and high school students who have been brainstorming ideas.
“Since our school covers grades six through 12, we have juniors and seniors who are good mentors for our middle schoolers,” she said. “My goal is to have several teams from across these grades.”
So far, students have discussed ways to use social media to identify and address climate issues.
“They’re talking about an app that would fit the project guidelines,” said Hutchins-Trapp. “Whatever ideas they have are valuable. They’re so passionate about injustice and the environment, and it’s been great to see them take the lead on this.”
Information about Elite Scholars Academy is online at https://099.clayton.k12.ga.us.
SEND US YOUR STORIES. Each week we look at programs, projects and successful endeavors at area schools, from pre-K to grad school. To suggest a story, contact H.M. Cauley at hm_cauley@yahoo.com or 770-744-3042.
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