Summer has officially ended and was truly one for the records.  Droughts, wildfires, dangerous heat indices, hurricanes, and floods - many of them destructive and deadly.  While none of us want to dwell on these scary issues, we must keep the implications in mind as we navigate this school year.  Together we can help our students, as well as their families and communities, learn and work toward climate change resilience, adaptation, and solutions. 

We at Cooler Communities continue to participate in these efforts. Despite the pandemic, we held five virtual events during the 2020-21 school year.  Kudos to all students, teachers, volunteers and administrators in Agawam, Springfield High Schools, Sherborn, Pittsfield, and Greenfield that came through in such a big way. We are applying what we learned in this virtual world to our planning for the 2021-2022 school year and look forward to running our program in eight to ten school districts, expanding our footprint throughout the state and doubling the number of events held last year.  And we’ll continue to share our information and experiences with you. In this newsletter issue we highlight:

• Western Mass Youth Climate Summit

• A recent high school graduate’s creation of the CC Student Playbook

• What to do with seasonal leaf collections

• Time sensitive events and programs for teachers and students

We wish you all a safe and successful school year!

WESTERN MASS YOUTH CLIMATE SUMMIT

Mass Audubon and the Hitchcock Center are putting the final touches on plans for their annual Youth Climate Summit, “a participant-driven educational conference for youth, designed to create an opportunity for learning, dialogue and action on climate change.” Student teams from across Western Massachusetts attend workshops and interactive sessions and develop their own climate action plan to be implemented with support from Summit leaders.  The Summit will take place outdoors on October 21st from 9:30am to 1:30pm, at the Mass Audubon Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary Pavillion. Event attendance is FREE and you can contact  Brittany Gutermuth, Climate Education Coordinator with Mass Audubon’s Connecticut River Valley Sanctuaries at bgutermuth@massaudubon.org for more information.

SPOTLIGHT

Maybe you remember Allison Markowsk (“Ally”) from a previous newsletter? This recent graduate of the Hadley Public Schools oversaw the roll-out of a Cooler Communities event in Hadley. COVID made a fair impossible, but Ally produced a guide for students taking a lead role in running a Cooler Communities project.  Covering everything from using funds, project ideas, connecting with the community, action pledges,  and event planning, the Cooler Communities Student Playbook is a “must have” for students and staff.  

ACTION

Fall yard work is fast approaching. What to do with all those leaves? Consider adding them to your home compost bin or using them as mulch in your garden, protecting and feeding the soil and the creatures that live there .  If you still have leftover leaves, many municipalities have curbside leaf collection services that turn the yard waste into compost. Don’t “waste” the yard waste! And... Energy Efficiency Day  was October 6th, but we will continue to celebrate for the entire month of October. So, make sure to spread the word and take action!

EVENTS AND PROGRAMS

• Massachusetts STEM Week, October 18 - 22, 2021   https://www.massstemweek.org/

• International Compost Awareness Week (May 1 to 7, 2022) 

  • High school video and poster competition

  • https://compostfoundation.org/ICAW/ICAW-Poster-Contest

  • Deadline is November 1, 2021

• Climate Superstars Challenge - for middle schools during October

  • https://www.neefusa.org/education/climate-superstars

• Green Teams  

  • School staff and parent volunteers from Massachusetts K-12 schools are eligible to register to create a Green Team. Registrants receive a GREEN TEAM Kit and are eligible for prizes, recycling and composting equipment, idling reduction signs and materials.  https://thegreenteam.org/