The following are some thoughts from two of the students, Chase and Cassandra, about the SOL conference. Once again I apologize for the picture quality.
Chase Pierson
This was my first time associating with Green Team so when I received the invitation to join them on a very exclusive sustainability conference, I didn’t know what to expect. When the conference rolled by I realized that this conference was nothing to worry about. We immediately received an introduction by one of our hosts, Peter Senge, then jumped right into getting to know one another and what each other’s schools were about and what they did to contribute to sustainable living. As the conference went by, new topics were displayed as we learned a new thinking style called systems thinking, which enables one to step back from the challenge you face and think it through by using different habits and methods.
Then the time came where our school received the opportunity to sit down and clearly think about what challenges we face within the school. Our particular challenge was getting people involved in the green team and supporting the different ideas the team has to offer. After a solid brainstorming session, we came up with excellent ideas to display the green team as a serious and passionate group of people. Some of our ideas include, possibly raising a chicken coop at one of the elementary schools, incorporating the education of sustainability in advisory time once or twice a month, and talking to Global/Outdoor Academy about the essence of sustainability. As the conference came to a tiring end, I look back at our experience and can' t help but to think that the Green Team is a club that is aspiring to be one of Tahoma School Districts greatest accomplishments. It will be an extremely educational success, but it will also be just the start of something spectacular.
Cassandra Houghton
This coming year I will be a sophomore at Tahoma High School. The opportunity to participate in the SOL conference has been a great experience. When I was first informed of this opportunity, I was ecstatic, but I don’t think I realized how much I would learn or how many friends I would make. The first day of the conference I had no idea what to expect. I didn’t know anyone except the people from my site and I didn’t know what was expected of me. Once everyone was seated, Peter Senge jumped right in and got everything started. Before I knew it, I was talking with adults as if we are on the same level.
By the second day I felt I knew almost everyone at the conference and I was ready to learn all I could. It was time to get down to business. We were put into two groups and were able to collaborate with people from many different schools and organizations. Throughout the conference there were many discussions about what we would like to see happen in our school around sustainability and our struggles to make it happen. One struggle was in our main focus: getting students to want to be involved in sustainability, and to want to learn about sustainability. Many other schools seemed to have the same problem. Through collaboration we were able to come up with many ideas that will tackle the problem. We also created ideas about how we will integrate sustainability into our school curriculum and into our community.
All of the young people and the adults at this conference will be able to take back what they learned, and make a real difference in their community. Throughout the next year we will be communicating with the many schools that we connected with at this conference, and tracking each other’s progress. I am excited about becoming an active member of the green team and leading our school district through the process of sustainability.
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