Submitted by Pacific Education Institute
On February 23, 18 student teams from around Washington state will gather at New Market Skills Center for an Environmental & Sustainability Literacy Summit. Olympia-based nonprofit Pacific Education Institute (PEI) and the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) will organize the event which highlights student projects and activities focused on climate science and sustainability. From noon to 3:00 p.m., students will share their projects with their peers. Between 3:30 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. selected teams will have an opportunity to present their findings to representatives from Washington state agencies, state policy leaders and legislators.
Nisqually Tribal Council Member Hanford McCloud will open the latter portion of the event, which will feature a keynote address from Governor Jay Inslee and speeches from Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal and Commissioner of Public Lands Hillary Franz. This part of the summit is open to the public, but registration is required. Register here.
Participating students range in age from Kindergarten through high school and will cover topics such as plastic pollution, tire reefs, protecting shellfish from the heat dome, food waste and the importance of salmon. They represent eleven Washington State counties: Clallam, Clark, Cowlitz, Grays Harbor, King, Kittitas, Kitsap, Mason, Pierce, Snohomish and Thurston. For high school students, the summit will extend to Friday morning when they’ll meet in small groups with their local representatives. Statewide engineering and design firm SCJ Alliance and Seattle-based textile innovations company Evrnu are event sponsors.
“Young Washingtonians must be involved in this climate fight,” says Gov. Jay Inslee. “They know the moment is urgent, and action is needed to reduce pollution and save species. I’m proud of each participant in this summit – the future of Washington state depends on them.”
The summit’s goal is to elevate student voice and work, according to Molly Griffiths, PEI’s West Sound FieldSTEM Coordinator and the event’s primary organizer. “We want to bring together students from across the state who have been doing these projects and have them share what they’ve learned with an audience that makes decisions and might be able to make an impact at a higher level.”
The topic is both relevant and timely, according to Commissioner Franz. “In Washington and around the world, young people are taking on the fight for environmental sanity and grabbing hold of the future, and we need to be there with them, building momentum for our environment and our public lands,” she says. “We are excited to see programs like the Pacific Education Institute’s Environmental Literacy Summit promoting and connecting students with some of our most important environmental issues and challenges. This is our moment to press forward – to develop the future stewards and champions of our lands and waters.”
As the summit approaches, students are looking forward to meeting like-minded peers and presenting their work to both students of different grade levels and state leaders, says Griffiths. “They are excited to share why they think this type of learning is important within their communities.”
