Welcome

Last month, SBS students Zinny ‘23, Zoe ‘25, Lilly ‘23, Sina ‘25, Mila ‘25, Lotti ‘25 & Eleanor ‘25 attended the Interscholastic Youth Climate Summit hosted by the ‘ecoleaders’ at Northfield-Mount Hermon School. The student organizers, the ‘ecoleaders’, describe this event as one that "aims to foster collective climate action in conjunction with participating schools”. By bringing students from neighboring schools on-campus at NMH, all students will learn from a panel of expert speakers, engage in dynamic discussions, and envision collaborative climate action projects. 

The NMH ‘ecoleaders’ outlined the three main goals of their event: 

1. To use education as a tool to not only spread awareness about climate efforts, but to inspire other students to spearhead their own environmental efforts.

2. To foster interpersonal connections with students from neighboring schools in order to increase collaboration, partnerships, and collective climate efforts.

3. To utilize our resources to educate students from other schools who may not otherwise have the opportunity to learn about climate action. 

Becca Malloy, Associate Director of Sustainability at Smith College, and Wes Dripps, Amherst College Sustainability Director, both spoke at the Summit to talk about environmental action both at their respective schools and in our lives.

Additionally, Brittany Gutermuth, a former Stoneleigh-Burnham science teacher who now works for Mass Audubon, led the students in various activities. One activity demonstrated how the industrial revolution affected the carbon cycle. This particular activity was enlivened by Zinny and Lotti leading cheers for the lithosphere. During another activity, Zoe pretended to be the Earth, becoming draped with multiple jackets from other SBS students as more and more factors contributing to the greenhouse effect were mentioned. Fortunately, the jackets were peeled off of Zoe one-by-one as students brainstormed solutions to decrease the amount of carbon in the atmosphere.

Middle School Dean Bill Ivey, who attended the Summit, reports, “All in all, it was a very successful event that should lead to positive action for the schools involved and the world.” Thank you to the NMH ‘ecoleaders’ for hosting!