A high school environmental science teacher chooses Climate Ride to demonstrate activism for her students, taking the ride into her classroom…
After years of living sustainably and teaching environmental science to high school students, first-time Climate Rider Rose Chaffee-Cohen decided it was time to do more. After reading and learning more about Climate Ride through
350.org, one of our beneficiary organizations, Rose decided to sign up for the ride and use it to demonstrate the importance of environmental activism to her high school Junior AP environmental science class.
A teacher at
Kent Place School, an all-girls school in New Jersey, Rose was encouraged by administrators to look outside of the standard curriculum and seek opportunities for learning beyond the textbooks. She wanted to do something more to connect her students to the challenges of climate change and it seemed clear to her that: “Climate Ride was the perfect way to bring the science of such a large, complicated issue and environmental activism together for my students.”
As her students begin a unit on atmospheric science they are being asked to explore and learn ways to increase sustainability in their everyday activities and are exploring how climate change can be affected by their choices. They are researching how climate change will impact them and the activities and places that they are passionate about. In the lead-up to the ride, her students are not only researching the work of the beneficiary organizations, but also where their political leaders stand on climate change issues as well. Rose plans to keep her students engaged throughout the ride and in the end, she’ll be bringing her students’ issues and concerns to their representatives in Washington, DC at the end of her 300-mile journey.
For her, the ride extends well beyond the classroom.
“I’d like to be one of the riders with the most donors because I want to get more people connected to this issue. For me, personally, I’m not a cyclist, so I’ve been learning a lot and training a lot. Just by signing up, I feel like I’ve fulfilled a personal goal.”
Rose is out there pedaling to bring climate change understanding to the next generation, demonstrating citizen activism and doing her part to make a difference. Thanks Rose!