This article appeared as "Into the Woods" in the Fall 2024 issue of Independent School.
Cities across the country are grappling with environmental and social justice issues, and today’s youth report that they are anxious and concerned and want to find solutions. Laurel School (OH) is helping to empower students to do just that and to be the change.
In 2020, to understand upper school students’ most pressing concerns during the pandemic, the school conducted a survey that revealed that students felt particularly anxious about the environment and climate change. Head of School Ann V. Klotz and other school leaders saw an opportunity to help by using the school’s 150-acre Butler Campus—including forested areas, ponds, wetlands, and agricultural areas—as the site of a new interdisciplinary semester program. With funding from an E.E. Ford leadership grant, Laurel created an Environmental Justice (EJ) Semester, which is open to 10th and 11th grade girls from schools throughout Northeastern Ohio who want to gain hands-on experience in nature and find solutions to climate change, food scarcity, air and water pollution, and other issues.
Led by Angela Yeager, the program launched in fall 2023 with 11 students. As part of their coursework, girls volunteered weekly with EJ-focused partner organizations matched to student interest, such as Redhouse Architecture, Action for the Climate Emergency, and Collective Citizens Organized Against Lead. Students also conducted independent research on topics such as forest protection, clean cookstoves, urban mobility, and family planning.
After the fall semester, students wanted to continue the work and get more students involved with climate justice. They created the Action for the Climate Emergency club, which hosted more than 80 students from other schools at the Northeast Ohio Youth Climate Summit, which was held at Think[box], an innovation center at Case Western Reserve University.
The next EJ semester will be offered in spring 2025 and will incorporate student feedback, including more lab experiences, interdisciplinary lessons, and community partnerships for student-apprenticeship experiences.
Laurel School’s Environmental Justice Semester, started in fall 2023, gives students hands-on experience to find solutions to climate change.