By Jeanine Cerundolo, Eagle Rock School and Professional Development Center

One of the values of Eagle Rock School and Professional Development Center, an alternative residential school nestled in the mountains of Estes Park Colorado is to become a “steward of the planet.” Another mantra at the school is “find a need and fill it.” Students embodied both these values in their recent efforts towards education and action around Climate Change.

Through their service-learning curriculum, in mid-September, Eagle rock was introduced to ACE, the “Alliance for Climate Education” and formed a partnership that would inspire both parties. Eagle Rock School’s 75 young people each work towards personal growth and transformation as much as on their academics. ACE’s mission is to spread the message of climate change to schools across the country.

Upon seeing an ACE presentation led by Amy Atkins, our students became enthusiastic about stepping up as leaders in the community to address the issue. Most decided to take an in-depth approach and became part of event planning with Amy- attending a training workshop and subsequently working with “The Lorax,” an environmental action group from Fairview high school.

The Eagle Rock School encourages students to become “global citizens” and what better way for students to “think global, and act local” than to become involved in a local event for climate justice held in the nearby city of Boulder, CO.

Students were invited to attend the “350” Global Work Party to combat climate change.

“What interests me most about climate change and the 350 cause is finding out about the earth heating up” said Eagle Rock student, J.R. Yama. This fact certainly heated up discussion and concern for Eagle Rock students. Thus, when presented with the opportunity to be involved with 350’s larger efforts, many Eagle rockers immediately expressed interest.

On October 10, 2010, an eight-foot tall polar bear marched through the streets of Boulder from Naropa to CU, preceded by a torch from the Dalai Lama and followed closely by 18 Eagle Rockers and others.

Bear, torch, and Eagle Rock School were part of the youth “I Matter March” set up by the Earth Guardians, an environmental education group for children. “Even though it was a rainy day we had a strong showing for the youth march from Naropa to the CU campus. People were chanting and expressing enthusiasm for the healing of the planet from a perspective of unity and commitment to change,” said instructor John Guffey. Three of the Earth Guardians, aged 10 to 13, spoke later that afternoon at the rally at the UMC.

The Eagle Rock Students were impressed by the Earth Guardians message. Children spoke of the mess left behind by the generations before them and how they would be left to clean it up. They encouraged adults to care, if not for themselves, then for their children who would inherit the problem. The strength of student voice was shown powerfully in their speeches.

“It gave me chills to see children the age of my little sister speaking powerfully for change” said Jeanine Cerundolo, a fellow at Eagle Rock School. “The power of youth activism and the ability of young people to become leaders was evident at this event,” she observed. For many, it was their first time participating in such an event. Student Janice Soto commented: “The experience of the event was great because it was something I had never done.”

The Boulder event was a significant part of a monumental effort around the globe, where 7,347 events in 188 countries were carried out, all centering around reducing carbon emissions. Cities celebrated the day by planting trees, installing solar panels, and painting the tops of buildings white. Over 1,000 of these events happened in the United States, with about 55 located in Colorado. The Boulder Global Work party offered over 40 low-carbon workshops which students attended to learn more about the issues. “Something I learned from participating in the Boulder 10-10-10 event was how bio-diesel fuel has a low impact on our environment” said student, Hector Verdugo. Overall, students expressed curiosity, learned, and shared their new knowledge with each other.

Volunteers at the event were excited about the rally because a seeing a gathering of people getting together around a cause really demonstrates that one is not alone in caring about the issue, but that it is a passion that is shared. “I was impressed by the amount of people who showed up not only out of interest but also for support,” said Jo-Ann Reid, a student at Eagle Rock. Not only did students from Eagle Rock just show up, but they also prepared a workshop to present to fellow teens covering different themes such as climate justice, food and agriculture, and economics, as well as noting small acts folks could do to make a difference. “It was obvious that Eagle Rock made this event a priority. Our group stood out through its presence and leadership. When an organizer asked for a show of hands from those facilitating small group discussions almost all of our group of 18 students had their hands up. It was very gratifying to see this level of involvement from our community,” said Service-Learning Instructor, John Guffey. The Service-Learning fellow, Kari Liotta, emphasized this point: “One thing that impressed me from the event was our student leadership.

I’m so proud of the students who stepped up to facilitate at the ‘High School Students Can Change The World’ session. They did a wonderful job and represented Eagle Rock well!”