Climate Justice Education Project Impacts Earth Week 2023
The CTU Foundation Quest Center for Professional Learning held a reception on June 1, 2023, celebrating the educators participating in the Climate Justice Education Project (CJEP). This year the CJEP cohort came together to celebrate their hard work in bringing organic environmental justice lessons to their students that reflect the immediate needs of the local school community, such as Dee Fredrick, Climate Justice Educator, who serves students in Altgeld Gardens.
During the reception, we heard from the professional development instructors Ayesha Qazi-Lampert and Erin A. Lynch about the importance of understanding the interdisciplinary approach to environmental education. The night’s highlight was when we offered a token of appreciation to the Oppenheimer Family Foundation. Ted Oppenheimer graciously accepts our gratitude for their support for the Climate Justice Education Project.
Here are the lesson snapshots for the Climate Justice Education Project for the 2023 Cohort!
As we know, climate change is an urgent crisis confronting people worldwide and directly impacting Chicago. Chicago’s communities of color are disproportionately impacted by pollution, climate change, and resulting extreme temperatures. From lead pipes to lakefront erosion, pointing to the city’s structural issues, climate change will only exacerbate the limited resources funded to communities with high poverty rates. In Chicago, environmental justice often equates to racial justice for communities. Equipping educators with a pedagogical toolkit to address climate change for their students is a new frontier in curriculum development. The Climate Justice Education Project seeks to address the lack of support for teachers in educating students to advocate for a green and clean future.
The Quest Center for Professional Learning and Teacher Leadership graciously received funding from the Oppenheimer Family Foundation to achieve the goals set forth within the Climate Justice Education Project (CJEP). The overarching goal of this project is to support educators and, by extension, their students, to design and complete projects/lessons to address the root causes of climate change by uplifting the voices of communities who have been least culpable and most affected: Black, Latinx, and Indigenous communities, and youth generally.