SMALL ACTS WITH GREAT IMPACT

Skylar Rhodes ’27

We can all be inspired to do small acts to help the planet and minimize climate change. My name is Skylar Rhodes, and I am in the Class of 2027. I was inspired by one of my teachers, Mrs. Zimmerman, who graciously gave her time teaching about sustainable practices during Covid while everyone was first locked down over the summer. I learned that there were small actions that we could all do to make a big impact on the environment. For the last three years, I have been leading and creating food sustainability programs for Pre-K through 12th graders across all three MKA campuses.

With the help of a fourth and fifth grade team and supported by an educational website we created, we instituted a Meatless Monday program to raise awareness about the importance of eating less meat to benefit the environment. To engage students about the program, we shared fun facts they could relate to in their everyday lives. The students were surprised to learn that the amount of energy it takes to make one hamburger can charge a phone for around four and a half years. Going meatless on Mondays is an easy action that students can do for the environment because they already love meatless foods like pizza, pasta, and salads. While I am not a vegetarian, I realized that I could eat less meat to become more sustainable in my daily actions, but not everyone was ready to commit to meat-free meals. I conducted surveys to gauge student and faculty interest to help tailor the program to their needs. I was able to glean from the surveys that our community needed more education, which is why I created the Voices of MKA, a video montage of students, teachers, and faculty inspiring others by sharing the importance of food sustainability and eating less meat through the Meatless Monday program.

The following year, I knew we had to broaden students’ education to food sustainability as a whole. I developed the MKA Art & Writing Challenge so that students in all grades could express the importance of food sustainability in any medium they chose. The youngest members of our community colored pictures accompanied by sustainability facts while older students submitted videos, short stories, paintings, and poems that were all highlighted on our food sustainability website. I also created and posted educational and promotional materials on the website. Throughout the years, I have continued to inform students about the positive impacts of green actions through videos and assembly presentations for all three campuses.

I was honored to help accept the International Green School Award for Montclair Kimberley Academy in addition to receiving an individual Climate Cadet Award at the Green School Conference as part of New York City Climate Week. The award was presented by Green Mentors, which has a consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations. The conference attendees came from countries ranging from India, Mexico, Uganda, and the United States. I was touched that I was able to reach people from all over the world with my work, and I hope to continue educating my community about the sustainable actions they can take to positively impact the environment.

Montclair Kimberley Academy Awarded The International Green School Award 2022

Montclair Kimberley Academy was awarded the International Green School Award at the Green Schools Conference as part of NYC Climate Week. The award was presented by Green Mentors, which has special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations.

The conference included attendees from all over the world, including India, Mexico, Uganda, and the United States. The acceptance speech for the award was given jointly by Ben Rich, Laura Zimmerman, and 8th-grade student Skylar Rhodes who highlighted sustainability at the Middle School. Mr. Rich was also awarded the International Green Teacher award for his work in bringing environmental sustainability to life both in and outside of the classroom.

A few years back we saw a need to involve students in looking at inequity in our school and in the world, not only socially but also academically. In order to bridge the gap between what's going on in the world and how it impacts what we do here, the Student Diversity Leadership Committee (SDLC) was created. This group consists of 28 student members in tenth through twelth grade who apply for a position on the committee.

As part of the SDLC’s work, the group addresses different areas of school life where there is inequality or underrepresentation. Such areas have included academic programming, extracurricular activities, and sustainability. Members identify the issues, break into focus groups, and come up with goals for the year. For instance, we took a look at the classroom, and this year, one of the SDLC’s goals is to be more transparent in what equity looks like when it is not just based on race or things that we can see. For example, people may assume that in science, there aren't any equity or diversity issues, but we can certainly talk about how DNA was identified and how female scientist Rosalind Franklin didn't get the kind of recognition that male scientists

Watson and Crick did. Those are super important things because young women sitting in class may want to be a scientist one day and need to see some representation.

In regards to SDLC’s work specifically with sustainability, we are partnering with the Upper School Environmental Action Club (EnAct) and looking at ways to connect with the Ironbound section of Newark. This city has a history of chemical companies dumping toxic waste not only in landfills but also in the water. We are connecting with wastewater treatment facilities to examine how the process of cleaning up this damage impacts local communities. We want to expose our kids to these types of situations to show them that underrepresentation and a lack of equity has made the lives of many residents in nearby Newark radically different from many of those attending MKA. We must take action and see where we can help, whether that be through education, amplifying the issues, and partnering with them to make improvements.

SDLC plants the seeds for growth down the road. When the right framework is in place to grow these ideas, you'll see the fruits. SDLC is based upon the belief that when our kids graduate from here, they not only got a great education, but they felt like they belonged in this community. We're not a perfect school nor is this a perfect world. There are things that we need to address and continue to address in order to be better and have a nice healthy garden. Looking at this growth process like a garden is really important. We have to plant seeds; we have to give it the proper nutrients; and we’re going to have to pull out the weeds.

AP Environmental Science took their annual field trip to test the water quality of the Peckman River in nearby Cedar Grove. Students tested for nitrates, phosphates, dissolved oxygen, water flow, turbidity, and other factors to see how healthy the stream is.