Rye Neck students have turned the tables on their teachers and are educating adults about environmental sustainability through the Middle School’s DoRight Leadership Corps. As part of the district’s Independent Learner Program, the youth action group promotes sustainable practices in the community and conducts energy audits for local businesses.

 

By Janice Llanes Fabry

 

Rye Neck students have turned the tables on their teachers and are educating adults about environmental sustainability through the Middle School’s DoRight Leadership Corps. As part of the district’s Independent Learner Program, the youth action group promotes sustainable practices in the community and conducts energy audits for local businesses.

 

“We spend a lot of time learning about natural resources, energy, nature conservation strategies, global warming, and climate change. We try to clarify the adults’ misconceptions,” said group leader Alexandra Tartaglia, a junior, who started the Rye Neck chapter of the Corps as a middle school student. “We have to master a lot of information, so that we can teach others.”

 

The group is a branch of an international youth action network developed by award-winning educator Scott Beall to mobilize students into creating a sustainable future for America. In addition to the audits and science research conducted by the students, DoRight members promote public awareness and legislation through phone calls and letters to government officials.

 

“When students acquire an expertise, it empowers them,” said Rye Neck’s Enrichment Coordinator Valerie Feit. “It’s their generation, after all, that will inherit the responsibility of instituting these practices.”

 

When DoRight group members realized batteries were not being recycled properly at a local store, they investigated its official recycling policies. When students discovered locally polluted waters during a nature walk, they wrote letters to the mayor and their representative.

 

It’s not always smooth sailing, however. By virtue of their tender ages, the business community doesn’t always take them seriously. It takes much persuasion for local business owners to agree to their audits, which exceed recycling and reusing practices.  DoRight’s sophisticated checklist evaluates energy, waste management, green building features, water, and chemicals. As eighth grader Julia Wright observed, “It takes a lot of time and patience, but it doesn’t mean we should stop trying.”

 

Sophomore Grace Sundstrom is pleased that high and middle school students are collaborating. “It’s great for us all to be part of something bigger and to work on such intensive projects,” she said.

 

“We are living in an age of advocacy and kids are seeing the rise of global movements,” added Dr. Feit. “A lot of DoRight is about teaching positive activism, communicating well and articulating depth of knowledge and passion.”

 

For more information, DoRight Leadership Corps’ website (dorightrn.weebly.com), designed by Ms. Tartaglia, includes the team’s mission, a newsletter, a green guide, a blog, and environment-related current events.