What better way to celebrate and honor Earth Week than to showcase young changemakers in action right here in Clayton County, Georgia!
On April 18th, over 250 students from Clayton County Public Schools came together to present their ideas and designs for advancing climate justice in their community. These students were selected from a larger group of CCPS students who have spent the last three months participating in the Climate Justice Challenge: Green Heart Edition, designing feasible solutions for addressing climate justice problems they identified locally.
This Challenge was collaboratively organized with CCPS Science and Social Studies Departments and Captain Planet Foundation; and was supported by Accenture and Susan S. Klein. The theme of this year’s Climate Justice Challenge was EARTH (food & soil systems).
Nine teams pitched their ideas live & on stage in front of a panel of judges, including: Sofi Armenakian (Head of Sustainability, Atlanta Hawks & State Farm Arena), Gay Browne (Author of “Living with a Green Heart”), Brionté McCorkle (Executive Director, Georgia Conservation Voters), Gina Rude (South Lead, US Corporate Citizenship, Accenture), and Geoff Streat (COO, Usher’s New Look).
Winning teams won small grants to implement their ideas and attendance at the Green Heart Idea Incubator — a two-week summer STEM camp co-facilitated by CCPS and Captain Planet Foundation — where they will take their projects to the next level. The winning high school teams also received scholarships for Usher’s New Look Disruptivator Summit taking place this summer in Atlanta.
WINNERS FROM THE 2023 CCPS CLIMATE JUSTICE CHALLENGE
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEAMS
- Unidos Dual Language ES – Environmental Experts
- Huie Elementary – Changemakers
MIDDLE SCHOOL TEAMS
- Elite Scholars Academy – SPROUTS
- Elite Scholars Academy – Climate Champions
- Rex Middle – Soil Soldiers
HIGH SCHOOL TEAMS
- Drew High School – Team CGT
- Drew High School – Recycling Group
This year’s Clayton County Climate Justice Challenge: Green Heart Edition was a pilot test of a larger Green Heart Challenge program that will be available to schools and youth groups globally in coming years. The 2024 Green Heart Challenge will launch in January 2024 and the theme will be WATER. To sign-up for updates on the 2024 Green Heart Challenge, click the link below.