Baldwin High School hosts Climate Justice Youth Summit

Baldwin High School students in the Youth Change Leader Collaborative, YCLC, launched the first Long Island Climate Justice Youth Summit on Saturday, June 17.

The summit, which took place on the high school campus, aimed to better understand the interconnectedness of local communities and how youth voices can influence environmental change. In addition, the experience served as an opportunity for environmental youth groups from New York to collaborate on how to cultivate a healthier environment for Long Island. Approximately 75 students attended.

The YCLC is a group of young activists from Baldwin High School who joined together to form this special club, which meets every Tuesday in the school’s Learning Collaboratory. Through this extra-curricular activity, students, grades 10 to 12, research and gather data on four global issues and develop an action plan to help find a solution. Launched in the fall of 2022, the YCLC has already garnered media attention and accolades for their work across the four target areas, which are Gun Violence Prevention, Health Equity, Immigration Policy Reform, and Climate Justice.

Following opening remarks by Neil Testa, principal of Baldwin High School, and the YCLC Climate Justice team, the participants played an energy trivia game to share their knowledge of the environment while competing for fun prizes. Then, attendees engaged in three 30-minute breakout sessions to learn about the Long Island Sound Study National Estuary with outreach coordinator Jimena Perez-Viscasillas, Baldwin Middle School’s Youth Climate Projects with the district’s director of curriculum Stephanie Rengifo, and the Grassroots Environmental Education Initiative with the non-profit’s founder and executive director Patti Wood.

After lunch, keynote speaker Jayni Chase, chair of Friends of the Earth and spouse to comedian/actor Chevy Chase—whom she credits as the inspiration for her environmental activism—discussed the importance of the summit and the power of young activists. She founded the Center for Environmental Education more than thirty years ago, which provided resources for K-12 schools and currently operates out of Unity College. Chase has also served on several boards, including The Alliance for Climate Education, the USGBC Center for Green Schools and The Billon Oyster Project.

The day culminated with the first annual Youth Activist Spotlight Award presented to Daphne Frias, a 25-year-old activist, who is proud to be a loud champion for disabled people, active in the fight against gun violence as well as the climate crisis. She shared her story and spoke about the significance of student voice in the climate justice conversation.

As far as next steps, following reflections from audience members, this group of ‘changemakers’ pledged to continue their efforts in the fall and that this summit was just a starting point for something greater.

“We were very excited for our students to learn from the knowledge and expertise of our speakers and to also have this to cultivate a generation of climate leaders,” said Gabriella Franza, assistant director for instructional programs. “We are extremely proud of our high school students for being the driving force behind this vital movement for a sustainable future.”