Sustainability at PPS
May 2023
May is for Activism...and Biking. And Being Outside.
We have so much to tell this month -- April was full of activism and climate action across PPS and this spring we have over 30 schools participating in walk/ride/roll to school events. Truly amazing.
As the weather gets nicer, we hope you all get a chance to be outside, smelling the fresh air and looking up at the sun or the clouds or the moon or the stars. As you'll see in this month's Did You Know, being outside is good for you in just about everyway.
If you're not sure if you're a newsletter subscriber, click the green button below. Enjoy.
Climate Activism Everywhere!
Spring Climate Summit
Participating organizations included: Our Future Oregon, Oregon Green Schools, OPAL Environmental Justice, 350pdx, and so many more! For the full list, visit the PPS Climate Justice webpage.
We were delighted to be joined by Shiva Rajbhandari, a high school senior in Boise who ran for a seat on the School Board on a platform of climate justice and mental health, and won. Shiva shared his journey from a two week climate change unit, to losing his grandmother to air pollution, to organizing with fellow students with Idaho Climate Justice League fighting for “a clean energy commitment and a long term sustainability plan for our schools,” inspired by student organizing in Portland.
Students were enthralled by the keynote speaker, Favianna Rodgriguez, who spoke about the power of art, culture and storytelling in the climate movement– revolutionizing the status quo by changing people’s hearts and minds, and tending to the root cultural causes of climate change. (See below for a story on Faviana from PPS' very own Brooks Patterson.)
The ultimate goal of the event? Gathering students, teachers, and staff to commit ourselves to engaging in the work ahead, to reaffirm justice and equity as our guiding values, and to celebrate that we can do it all while making art and building community.
Favianna Rodriguez wows students at PPS Climate Summit
Written by Brooks Patterson, guest contributor, student reporter with Cleveland High School’s Cleveland Clarion.
The most memorable event however was the keynote speaker, Favianna Rodriguez, who spoke about her experience with climate justice and how she was impacted as a person of color by climate change. Rodriguez is an “interdisciplinary artist, cultural strategist and entrepreneur” who has won multiple awards for her work around immigrant detention, racial justice and cultural organizing.
In her speech, Rodriguez discussed how she believed artists must be at the forefront of the climate movement, saying, “...No, art is not nice, art is a necessity. We absolutely need stories that are going to help people think differently.”
This theme of how artists must be the people leading the climate justice movement was central to Rodriguez’s speech, and afterwards, the summit made posters together to help illustrate how to best deliver a message to the people in charge.
Afterwards, an Oregon Green Schools Student Voices Panel was held by Shiva Rajbhandari, JJ Klein-Wolf, Adah Crandall, Phoebe Jared, Sariah Albers and Ellie Weiner, who discussed their experiences with climate justice, as well as how they got and stay involved in the movement and how it has impacted their worldview.
The summit hosted over 250 students representing nine out of the 11 PPS High Schools, plus a few non PPS high schools. Overall, the summit was a success, and exactly what it planned to be: a celebration of the progress that PPS, Portland, Oregon, and even the United States as a whole has accomplished towards the goal of climate Justice.
Portland Youth Climate Strike
The rallying cry of the event, “Deny the permit, Condemn the pipeline,” called upon Oregon Governor Tina Kotek to take two specific actions to prevent the expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure in Oregon.
“Deny the permit” refers to an Air Contaminant Discharge Permit for Zenith Energy - an oil by rail operation and fossil fuel storage facility located along the Willamette river in Northwest Portland.
- Here’s some of the backstory. Community members have been fighting against oil by rail at this location since 2014, with some notable wins. In 2015 the City passed two resolutions, one mandating no new fossil fuel infrastructure and the other opposing oil by rail terminals. However in 2018 Zenith Energy bought the facility and began expanding its processing capacity from 12 to 44 oil trains at a time. Since 2019, climate activists have been trying to stop Zenith, and in 2021 the Bureau of Development Services denied Zenith’s Land Use Compatibility Permit, however Zenith filed an appeal and is permitted to continue operations while awaiting a ruling from the Land Use Board of Appeals.
“Condemn the Pipeline” refers to GTN XPress which “is a pipeline expansion proposal from TC Energy (the company behind the Keystone Pipelines) to increase the volume of fracked gas by 150 million cubic feet per day through the aging Gas Transmission Northwest (GTN) Pipeline” (Source: Rogue Climate). Activists called upon Governor Kotek to join Senators Merkley and Wyden and Governor Inslee in condemning plans surrounding the expansion of the Gas Transmission Northwest XPress pipeline.
The energy of the strike was high as student activists told their stories and encouraged others to get involved. It was powerful to see young people so effectively using organizing tools, so informed and aware of the issues, and clear in their goals.
PPS supported student activists by allowing schools to give excused absences.
Become a Community Climate Leader
The 3-day Become a Community Climate Leader workshop will be taught August 14-16, 2023, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., at Lewis & Clark College. Workshop attendance is free, will include meals, a project stipend, and will be followed by ongoing mentorship, logistical support, networking opportunities, and peer support events throughout the subsequent year.
This is an amazing opportunity to learn from experts in the climate activist field, alongside highschool and college students who are ready to become climate leaders or who are taking their skills to the next level.
Please share this opportunity widely! Click here to learn more and to apply.
Earth Month Stories from Around PPS
May is National Bike Month...
We are incredibly excited that there are 32 PPS schools participating in a Walk & Roll Day this month and so many schools that have been getting into the biking spirit all school year long. Many of those bike busses were taught and inspired by the program at Alameda – so if you’re looking for inspiration and for tips and tricks, be sure to follow @coachbalto on Instagram.
Biking has all kinds of benefits: it’s good for your health, it gets you outside, and it’s a great way to build community. And of course, it’s great for the environment! At PPS, 10% of our carbon emissions come from transportation. In the City of Portland, that number is 40%! Using bikes to get to school and around town is a fun, easy way to reduce emissions.
We want to celebrate all the amazing students, teachers, and parents who have biked, scooted, skated, or wheeled to school this year! And we want to hear from you if you think your school might be ready for a bike bus. Let us know and we can connect you with the brand new (grant funded) PPS Safe Routes to School Coordinator, Shane Nevius.
Here are some amazing stories and videos we know of from around PPS. Did we miss any? If your school has a bike bus, let us know at sustainablity@pps.net.
- Alameda, Sunnyside, Abernethy, Sitton, Cesar Chavez, and James John bike to school!
- Creston School launches new student bike bus (video)
- Partnership with city allows students to learn how to ride a bike at Rose City Park (video)
- James John Earth month Walk/Roll/Ride with Pride event, with a small pot, soil, and plant giveaway.
- Alameda Bike Bus Turns One: The Joy of Kids Biking to School (video)
- Robert Gray Student Council teams up with Eco Club walk/roll/bus to school challenge
King Elementary Earth Day Cleanup
It’s 9:45 on a cloudy Saturday morning, and multiple families gather outside of Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary school armed with gloves and trash grabbers. PPS AmeriCorps member Cal Verstrate welcomes them all to the King School SOLVE Earth Day Cleanup, and hands each group a grain bag for trash collection. The children are excited to get started, and dash off to the playground to start picking up litter there. One youth expresses her frustration with how much littering she sees happen on the school ground during recess, and a conversation begins about how it is important to properly dispose of garbage at lunch before heading out to recess.
The children and their family members work their way across the school grounds, picking up trash in their wake. The children see what interesting litter they can find, including items like a large spoon and a fast food cup. At the end, the grounds are noticeably cleaner and the children go celebrate by playing together on the playground. In only a couple hours, 13 volunteers filled up six 25 lb grain bags with litter!
We want to give a huge thank you to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School staff and SOLVE for collaborating with us on this Earth Day Cleanup, and to community members for showing up and helping keep King School clean.
Roseway Heights Climate Solutions Fair
SAGE hosted a Climate Solutions Fair at Roseway Heights Middle School Friday, April 28th! Students entered their gymnasium to find a variety of wonderful organization representatives, including Blueprint Foundation, VESTAS, Grow Portland and more, ready to share about the amazing work they're doing. Students also had the opportunity to check out one of PPS' new electric buses!
Throughout the day students dashed from table to table, engaging with representatives and asking questions. As students explored the different topic areas for climate solutions (transportation, food and agriculture, energy, etc.), they collected stamps and took notes on their fair passport.
On the list of items from the learning tree? Ultraviolet light can purify water; trees store carbon and reduce heat; and clothing can be donated or recycled instead of being thrown away.
Thanks SAGE and Roseway Heights Middle School for organizing the Climate Solutions Fair! Looking forward to next year.
PPS HIGHLIGHT
Would you believe it!? Our newsletter won an award. Not to ring our own bike bell, but we think that’s pretty cool. Thanks Energy Trust of Oregon for the award for “Exemplary Engagement.”
Did You Know?
Let’s take a look at a case study. “Experimental findings show how impressive nature’s healing powers can be—just a few moments of green can perk up a tired brain. In one example, Australian researchers asked students to engage in a dull, attention-draining task in which they pressed a computer key when certain numbers flashed on a screen. Students who looked out at a flowering green roof for 40 seconds midway through the task made significantly fewer mistakes than students who paused for 40 seconds to gaze at a concrete rooftop (Lee, K.E., et al., Journal of Environmental Psychology, Vol. 42, No. 1, 2015).” (Source: American Psychological Association)
Image Source: Ming Kuo, 2015
Image Source: Ming Kuo, Michael Barnes, Catherine Jordan, 2019.
RESOURCES
Bike Resources 4 Bike Month
Check out some of these resources to get started:
EVENTS
Wallace Park Sustainability Fair
Join neighbors in celebration of sustainability and fun at Wallace Park on May 6. Dog parades and costume contests, local vendors, ecological learning, electronics recycling, raffles, face painting and more!
Where: Wallace Park (NW Quimby St. & 25th Ave.)
Grow Portland Volunteer Action Day
Join Grow Portland for their Volunteer Action Day to help install irrigation and support Grow Portland programs for students at Harrison Park School.This event will be held rain or shine! Please be prepared for weather and to get muddy. Grow Portland will provide all the necessary tools and materials. We look forward to your helping hands to prep this garden for students. Click here for more information and to sign up.
When: Saturday, May 13, 10:00am - 12:00pm
Where: Harrison Park School (2225 Southeast 87th Avenue Portland, OR 97216)
Postcards from a Climate Resilient Future
Calling all ecologists, policymakers, community members and leaders, educators, artists, technologists, urban planners, students, data scientists and anybody who wants a voice in our climate future. Come to PSU for the first design/strategy session to inform Multnomah County's Climate Plan. This session will inspire/result in a series of prototype augmented postcards/murals/posters for a June show. For information and to reserve your spot, click here.
When: Saturday, May 13, 12:30pm - 4:00pm
Where: CETI Lab @ PSU, Fariborz Maseeh Hall @ PSU. Rm 218 (1855 SW Broadway Portland, OR 9720)