Boston Latin School Youth Climate Action Network's Global Warming Youth Summit

the problem:

The Boston Latin School Youth CAN (Youth Climate Action Network) was founded on January 23rd, 2007 as an extra-curricular global warming club at BLS. It was formed in response to increasing awareness about the problem of global warming. At our first meeting, over 90 students showed up, and formed seven specific committees to take action. Less than a year later, our membership has swelled to over 300 students, and 16 separate committees!

Our accomplishments last year were equally remarkable. For example, our Energy Committee organized an NSTAR Save A Light drive that sold over 65 cases of compact fluorescent light bulbs. They raised over $5,000.00, and the funds were used to help pay for a Global Warming Youth Summit. BLS Youth CAN did all of the planning for this Youth Summit in partnership with the Technology and Culture Forum at MIT. For more information about the particulars of the summit, take a look at the schedule at http://www.blsyouthcan.org/First_Youth_Summit.html
You may also view a special edition summit newsletter, at http://www.blsyouthcan.org/Newsletter/Newsletter.html
or summit photos and video footage at http://www.blsyouthcan.org/Photos_%26_Video.html

This year, Youth CAN has taken on even more ambitious goals. In addition to planning for a second annual global warming youth summit at MIT in late March or early April; Youth CAN is also competing in the Keyspan Foundation’s Environmental Sustainability Competition during the month of October; participating in Focus the Nation on January 31st, a nation-wide effort to generate global warming awareness; Coordinating with Apple and Mayor Menino to recycle computers at UMass Boston on Earth Day; and attempting to earn solar panels for BLS by participating in New England Wind’s Solar Challenge; not to mention trying to figure out how we’re going to raise sufficient funds for this year’s summit (last year’s summit cost us more than $10,000).

Although the date of the summit is yet to be announced (MIT assures us it will take place on a Saturday some time in late March or early April - watch the BLS Youth CAN website for further details www.blsyouthcan.org), the Youth Summit Planning committee is already well underway in organizing the 2nd Annual Summit. This year the youth summit will include programming specifically aimed at growing the network of Youth CAN member groups. We are also planning breakout sessions for educators as well as students. BLS Youth CAN meets with our partner at the MIT Technology and Culture Forum, Patricia Weinmann weinmann@mit.edu at BLS on November 14th. We strongly urge students from Boston Latin School to attend this event, and last year, many of the attendees were from our school, although we did have representation from 46 other schools. We see the Youth Summit as an awesome day to educate ourselves, our school, and greater Boston’s students in general.

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