First Environmental Leadership Conference “inspires, innovates, collaborates”

First Environmental Leadership Conference “inspires, innovates, collaborates”

[slideshow_deploy id=’18337′]

On Friday, April 7, Fossil Ridge High School’s FRESH club hosted the first Environmental Leadership Conference. Tyler Vaughn, Jacob Trenholm, and Spencer Evans were the main student coordinators who organized the 23 presenters, which included an opening and closing keynote and breakout sessions. Vaughn’s hope was that participants would walk away with the knowledge that, “sustainability, and the environment, is something that affects everybody’s lives. It’s important for them to be aware that what they do has a bigger effect than they think.”

Jacqueline Kozak-Thiel, the Chief Sustainability Officer in Fort Collins, opened the conference by discussing Colorado’s Climate Action Plan as well as some entry level ideas for how individuals can treat the environment better. Students were then invited to pick 3 of the 21 sessions, which ranged in topic from “Data Immersion | Virtual Reality and Environmental Issues” to “Does Waste Matter?”. Martin Ogle, founder of Entrepreneurial Earth LLC, concluded the day in the Performing Arts Center. Fossil’s Key Club was also in attendance to check people in and direct them to rooms.

Nick Peterson, advisor of FRESH club, explained that a great deal of work has gone into pulling off this conference for the first time in Fossil’s history. The general concept arose about a year ago for the first time, when FRESH club presented to the school board, some Poudre School District officials, and federal representatives when PSD won the Green Ribbon Award. Much of the six months following that were purely freewheeling ideas and brainstorming. Peterson found that the club “started hitting their stride” right around October, when they started attendees and presenters with experience in the industry.

Story continues below advertisement

Peterson’s position as advisor has given him a unique perspective on what he hoped to get out of the conference. He stated, “I’ve always been on the lookout for opportunities for students that are geared towards them, that have a focus on environmental sustainability, and there just really aren’t any.” His last straw was when he took a group of kids to an Earth Day event in Fort Collins and all there was “was a Bernie Sanders booth and a beer tent.” That was when he decided that FRESH club would “do their own thing.”

FRESH club set out to remedy misinformation about many environmental topics with their event. Because an environmental conference on this scale had never been attempted in PSD, one of the hardest things for the students to do was to lay out basic plans. Vaughn felt that, “we really started from nothing. This was a grassroots, shoestring movement that started in the school with FRESH club and we brought it to [the community’s] attention. Getting students to be interested in attending was also a challenge.”

Ainsley Lotito, freshman, has always felt that it’s very important to be informed about the effects that her actions have on the environment. She thinks that holding this conference in a school setting is especially beneficial because, “students can learn about their role, and what steps they can take. It’s our world being affected.” She attended a session about leaving no trace and another about making a living from an environmental career.

Garrison Bennett was a presenter from CSU on Ecocar 3, a team that hopes to reengineer a Chevy Camaro into a plug in hybrid-electric vehicle, running completely on E85 fuel and battery power. He was most impressed that, “there’s such a diverse variety of organizations that were being represented today. Some of them were talking more about the policy aspects of environmental leadership, while others were talking about the engineering sides of it. It’s beautiful to see all the different opportunities and lessons that can be learned from what’s represented here.”

FRESH club was optimistic that this event will be an annual one at Fossil in coming years. Though an official attendance count wasn’t immediately available, Vaughn estimated that about 200 people were at the conference. He was especially pleased by the student turnout, agreeing, “it’s really important for youth to learn about it because we’re the ones who are going to have to make these changes in the future. We’re the ones who have to adapt to the decisions that our predecessors have made, for better or for worse, for the environment. We’re the generation that has to deal with it. It starts with simple awareness.”

Leave a Comment
Donate to Etched in Stone
$100
$1000
Contributed
Our Goal

Your donation will support the student journalists of Fossil Ridge High School. Your contribution will allow us to purchase equipment and cover our annual website hosting costs.

More to Discover
Donate to Etched in Stone
$100
$1000
Contributed
Our Goal

Comments (0)

Slander or profanity, even if abbreviated, will not be approved.
All Etched in Stone Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *