As is often the case, the teacher gets a lesson bigger than the students.
Today, I spoke to Mrs. Valerie LaRose's 9th Grade Honors English class about environmental journalism and related topics as part of the Wappingers School District's Planet Focus forum. (Wappingers schools is one of the larger suburban districts in New York's Hudson Valley.)
I hope they took away from the talk a sense that every decision we make, every purchase we make (better stop before this becomes a Police song) has implications for the environment. I hope they left with a sense that asking questions, exploring the world and writing are good ways to live and participate in civic society. Most of all, I hope they left with a sense of hope.
Why? My biggest lesson of the day came when I asked those 14-year-olds if they were optimistic about the world they'd inherit 14 years from now, when they're (more or less) my age.
Heads across the room nodded: No.
The problems seemed insurmountable, they said. Powerful corporations seem to be working to line their own pockets, and getting in the way of positive change. They didn't hear anything about solutions. Any progress being made would take too long to show results. ...
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