By Rebecca Franke and Sarah Ranney
Has the pandemic left you with a desire to get involved in a better future? Have you been looking for a way to have a personal impact on the climate emergency? An enduring contribution which can help shape this crucial decade? You can, by ensuring that all graduating students in your local school district — or independent school — understand how the climate is changing for the worse and, most importantly, what they can do about it.
That has been the goal of a group of Sierra Club volunteers in the SF Bay Chapter. Working with teachers, students, and community members, the Climate Literacy Committee is making the case to school districts to incorporate climate change into their curricula. And not only into science classes — in government, economics, English, history, and more. Because while an understanding of the science is important, the pandemic has made it even more clear that students must be equipped to make the hard decisions around public policy that they will face as adults. This includes understanding how environmental actions often disproportionately impact marginalized communities, so that those injustices don’t continue.
Do you have a connection with a school teacher, parent, board member? Are you a graduate student who could help teachers expand their knowledge of climate issues? Have you been reading the latest literature on climate — fiction or non-fiction — and would like to write reviews for teachers? Do you have experience writing grants? Otherwise interested in getting involved?
It’s obvious that the pandemic will force schools to confront a new set of challenges in funding and focus, but the urgency of our climate emergency has not lessened. In fact, the pandemic has demonstrated what can happen when threats like climate change aren’t met with foresight and planning. The SF Bay Chapter's Climate Literacy Committee has important work to do, and needs your help. To that end, it has created material to assist new volunteers who want to work with their school districts. It's all available on a new page on the SF Bay Chapter website. Or join our monthly organizing meetings, held via Zoom for now. For more information about our next meeting date or how to get involved, feel free to email us at clc@sfbaysc.org.