In Fall 2022, students across California participated in the People and Planet Challenge to launch sustainability campaigns and inspire change in their communities. Challenge activities were designed for middle and high school students and were made available in both English and Spanish. Students who best demonstrated their sustainability knowledge and launched a successful campaign won prizes. Congratulations!
Congratulations to our Fall 2022 Winners!
Winner #1: Design Tech High
Redwood City, CA
A group of students at Design Tech High launched a year-long campaign, "A Rays to Grow," to create a community garden.
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Wanting to grow fresh produce on campus, students first identified the environmental benefits of eating local. Local foods don’t need to be shipped, reducing GHG emissions, and because fruits and vegetables are seasonal, they don’t require chemicals or gas to ripen.
Additional research had students learning how to build garden structures and where to find materials. They developed a budget for the project and created a campaign logo. Finally, students launched “A Rays to Grow,” a year-long campaign to gather support and resources for Design Tech High's community garden. |
Winner #2: High Tech High
San Diego, CA
Led by their physics teacher, students at High Tech High engaged in an eight-week project to educate their community on sustainable practices.
Slides featured during the school-wide exposition night
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First, students researched the environmental burdens felt by their community, focusing on climate change, air pollution, and waste. They learned about San Diego’s history of redlining and how racist housing policies have left low-income individuals and people of color disproportionately exposed to the impacts of environmental burdens. During a two-day field research project, students interviewed over 300 community members about climate change and environmental challenges they face.
Teams of students created educational materials on sustainable living based on their research. They raised awareness by sending out texts, presenting in other classes, creating murals and posters, and posting on their social media accounts. Students shared their final presentations in a school-wide exposition night where the High Tech High community came together to learn about sustainability. "I like how we participated while building our knowledge about our environments."
"[This challenge] opened my eyes to the problems in my community." "I love talking to people about what's impacting the [planet], and teaching." —Students from High Tech High |
Looking Back
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Students completed challenges and ran campaigns.
After learning about sustainability through hands-on activities and digital tools, students planned a campaign to improve sustainability in their own communities. They implemented real change and inspired community members to join their environmental causes! Students used what they learned to spread the word and become sustainability leaders. They inspired community members to join their causes! Students became sustainability specialists and won prizes.
Everyone who completed the challenge received our Sustainability Specialist Certificate. Students who best demonstrated their sustainability knowledge and launched a successful campaign won prizes. |
This challenge is funded by a grant from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District
