In April, Ulster BOCES hosted a climate conference where we invited students to join in and contribute to a conversation about the United Nations’ 17 goals of sustainability. Those goals include topics such as economics and gender equality, in addition to the more ecologically focused themes generally associated with sustainability.
The idea was to create a multi-generational conversation about sustainability driven by young people. It was important to us that they lead these discussions because, frankly, they already are a primary driver of these conversations out in the world. Censoring of young people by adults is prevalent enough, and we don’t believe that’s the best path forward for future generations.
We held our conference at Vassar College to show the high school attendees that college students who were in their shoes just a couple of years ago are working on the same challenges in a higher education setting. Here’s how it all came together.
Connecting with teachers and students
In collaboration with our partner, World Savvy, we invited teachers from across the Hudson Valley to share their students’ voices. I reached out to everyone in my own network, asking them to put me in touch with the science educators who are really impacting kids’ lives. I was connected with amazing partners such as Putnam Northern Westchester BOCES, Sullivan BOCES, Westchester BOCES, the Cary Institute, the Mohonk Preserve and more. These will be our partners for years to come.
Throughout that process, we repeatedly heard the name Chris Bowser. He’s a science education specialist at New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and he accepted our invitation to deliver the keynote speech for our summit. He set the stage beautifully for an action-packed, high-energy day of discussion and exploration. In addition to delivering the keynote, Bowser brought some baby eels from the Hudson River. He also taught us that the sturgeon in the river—which can grow to be 16 feet long—are “living fossils” that haven’t evolved since the time of the dinosaurs.
I thought my biggest challenge would be organizing students to attend the conference, but they proved me wrong. In the end, not only did I have to bring in extra seats for all the attendees, but the students were the ones making it all happen and I was just facilitating. It was exactly how I’d hoped the day would unfold.
Superintendent turnover : Superintendent turnover: Hiring is not slowing down
One factor that certainly helped was removing financial barriers by making attendance free of charge for students. But the major reason for the summit’s success was the passion and commitment of all the local students who showed up to share ideas they’re excited about. My colleague Peter Harris, the assistant superintendent of career and technical education at Ulster BOCES, was especially energetic in rallying his students, who had been working on sustainable projects about everything from fashion to invasive species and consumables.
Session successes
One student group, Period Power, really struck a chord with the audience. They weren’t just impressive high school students; I was in awe of them as human beings. Their captivating presentation packed the room. After explaining the woeful sustainability rating of modern-day disposable period products, the group offered a variety of ideas for putting high-quality, sustainable menstruation products in bathrooms at no cost to users.
Some members focused on moving legislation forward to support this goal, and the entire presentation served as an example of normalizing conversation about menstruation. It can be an uncomfortable topic for people of any age, and empowering young people to talk to their peers about sensitive topics is powerful. Seeing the way Period Power captured everyone’s attention was definitely a highlight of the conference.
Another student group led a conversation about ethical dress codes that got a bit heated, but in a good way. Teachers and students had an equal voice, which made it an authentic and lively conversation. So many of us go to professional development sessions hoping to learn how to develop authentic conversation in classrooms, but it just happened naturally in the student-driven conference setting we created.
Advice for other educator organizers
I have learned a lot and I am excited to continue learning as we shift to planning our 2025 Summit. A few quick tips for those of you thinking of organizing your own summit would be to put the kids out front, reach out locally and get good food. We learned this year that, even if there are adults we’d like to highlight, it’s far better to have them to step in organically to support the students in what they’re doing.
To gather student attendees, tell everyone you know who works with kids what you’re doing and ask if they know anyone who would be a good fit. You may not know them, but they are friends of your friends, probably eager to talk about the cool stuff their students have accomplished, and tapping into your network will surface them.
Finally, any celebration needs food. I thought if I could bring in exciting food that many students hadn’t tried before, even if nothing else at the conference really grabbed their attention, they would broaden their horizons by discovering something new and delicious.
We partnered with local businesses that served Argentine and Colombian food. Our conference brought local people together to solve international problems, so it seemed appropriate to have local vendors serving international food.
My inbox was full for days afterward from attendees emailing to tell me how much they loved the event. We’re now talking about adding events for elementary and middle school students, whether they be virtual or in person, or adding a college tour for participating students at the end of the summit in 2025. Whatever changes we make will be guided by the lesson that if we center students, the adults will come together to uplift and celebrate their work.
