5th Annual Fairfax County Environmental Conference was presented by the Environmental Student Leadership Initiative, formerly known as the Eco-School Leadership Initiative. The conference was held on the grounds on Fairfax County Government Center on Saturday, June 22. The conference was a free, day-long event, the purpose of which was to teach students how they, as student-instructors could get involved with environmental education initiatives. By teaching elementary school students using hands-on and engaging interactive games and activities, in the process, the young students would become interested in fighting environmental problems and become future leaders in their communities.
According to Burke Connection, "In her Opening Remarks as Conference co-chair, Wendy Gao, a student at Oakton High School, admitted to the 45 Northern Virginia high school and college-aged students seated before her, that when she joined ESLI two years ago, she didn't know how to solve climate change nor did she consider herself an "Earth enthusiast." Gao said she knew at the time that climate change was caused primarily because of fossil fuel corporations and "their political and economic lobbying power." Gao said she thought that creating policies to curb these corporations was the only way to solve the problem. She added that after joining ESLI, she understood that to reverse climate change, all aspects of society — political, economic, social and academic — must "move in the same direction."
The mission of ESLI is to create a network of young people who are passionate about environmental education. "Climate education is not a requirement in public school systems, and many schools don't offer environmental science courses," said Gao. "There is a climate knowledge gap ... and that's why ESLI and environmental education is fundamental to the environmental movement... We do what we do because young people have a lot more power than we're allowed to believe,” she said."
The attendees visited two out of five workshops during the conference. Each workshop illustrated a lesson student-educators could teach elementary school students. As per Burk Connection, "The interactive experience used available ESLI curriculum, lesson plans, and materials which would be made accessible to student-educators who chose to volunteer their services as a teacher through an ESLI chapter — and how to start an ESLI chapter at their school if one isn’t already established."
Maryam
View posts by MaryamMaryam N. is a Senior Writer at Nesbitt Realty. She is an expert on Fairfax County. Maryam has also worked previously as a geologist. She is a foodie and enjoys cooking and exploring new restaurants.