The largest city in the United States is championing initiatives in its public education system that could set up the next generation for a healthier future.
The New York Times reported that 39 elementary school teachers attended the Integrating Climate Education in NYC Public Schools training program over the summer.
The four-day event aimed to help teachers make climate education more engaging and accessible without throwing off already "packed" lesson schedules, as a 2021 survey by the Climate and Resilience Education Task Force found that 68% of educators polled identified time as a constraint.
"It's not about adding more, it's more about weaving in," Oren Pizmony-Levy, the director of the Center for Sustainable Futures at Columbia University's Teachers College, explained to the Times.
On its website, NYC Public Schools details how it has already implemented practices focused on reducing pollution and material waste, including switching off unneeded lights, holding plastic-free lunch days, and participating in curbside composting initiatives.
However, a number of bills that would mandate education about rising global temperatures across all grade levels are still pending. According to the Times, New Jersey only recently became the first U.S. state to require lessons about the topic.
"Climate change is not a future threat; it's a present reality," said James Sanders Jr., a Democrat who represents New York's 10th Senate District, which has areas that are more vulnerable to rising sea levels and flooding linked to the overheating of our planet.
Teachers who participated in the integration training program over the summer spoke positively of the experience to the Times, and one educator is hopeful that ongoing conversations about climate issues will lead to more eco-friendly decision-making over time.
"If they start this in kindergarten with those basic concepts, then by the time students come to third grade, there will be so much more knowledge," said Kristy Neumeister, a teacher in the north Bronx. "They would become kind of little experts, and it would become a part of their lifestyle."
Meanwhile, Emily Fano, a senior manager at the National Wildlife Federation, is optimistic about the future of education in New York after the proposal of a bill that would update climate education standards.
"It would enable educators to explore the causes and impacts of climate change, as well as its solutions," she said, according to Public News Service. "[That] is very unique because now, students don't learn about solutions to the climate crisis — they really only learn about the problems, if they're lucky."
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