Students Win Environmental Awards

Three student teams from the Long Beach Unified School District earned environmental awards from Grades of Green Climate Solutions Campaign, which helps student leaders to launch climate-focused advocacy projects. 

The Keller Greenies team at Helen Keller Middle School earned the Community Changemakers Award and a $500 Eco-Grant for their Poly Green Schools Campaign. The goal of the campaign was to secure LBUSD’s commitment to transition to 100% clean energy by 2030. The students at Keller worked with other Long Beach students to advocate for the cause.

A California Academy of Math and Science team earned the Best Alumni Team honorary award for their project, which diverted more than 150 pounds of textile waste from landfills by turning them into dog toys.

The Mission Unsoakable team from Rogers Middle School earned the honorary award for Most Enthusiastic Team after conducting a water use and energy conservation presentation for PTA members. The presentation highlighted simple practices that schools and businesses can adopt to lower their environmental footprint.

“We are so impressed by the incredible accomplishments of our students over the course of a very challenging year. Because of their environmental advocacy efforts in schools and communities across the world, our students have inspired thousands of people to make long-lasting changes to address the climate crisis,” said Kim Siehl, executive director at Grades of Green.

Grades of Green is a nonprofit dedicated to environmental education. The 2020-21 school year was the first iteration of the Climate Solutions Campaign and welcomed 593 students who impacted more than 140,000 of their community members with their projects.