“Our coalition of students have come together to create this Green New Deal with the purpose of reducing the enormous environmental impact of all Culver City Unified School District campuses, so that they can operate more sustainably,” their document read. “It is important that every school reduces their environmental footprint as much as possible.”
Senior Abigail Cregor outlined the presentation focused on the nine specific categories in which the District could make a difference in preserving the environment, including improvements in the areas of education, energy, water, waste, green purchasing, construction, green spaces, community and transportation. The entire proposal can be viewed here and the presentation can be seen in the video above.
“We want to share the vision for what CCUSD could be and should be,” Cregor said. “A huge issue with environmental protections has been ignorance and deliberate oblivion … and that’s something we want to ensure is never an issue with any student at the Culver City Unified School District.”
Superintendent Quoc Tran said he and the Board of Education have embraced the Green New Deal plan and have even begun working with West L.A. College to create an environmental sciences program where students can earn college credit while still in high school. He also anticipates that the student group will begin working directly with CCUSD teachers to share their environmental knowledge and help assure that the focus on sustainability is felt in every classroom, regardless of the subject matter being taught.
“The cycle of destruction and the cycle of ignorance regarding the environment … once broken, will leave behind a legacy of care, a legacy of ownership, a legacy of pride about our environment,” he said. “Our students are engaging with such zeal, and for that I am grateful and humbled.”
Culver City High School students Ava Frans, Abigail Cregor, Nara Waisman, Tatiana Murphy-Wheeler, and Claudia Egan join CCUSD Superintendent Quoc Tran and Sandrine Cassidy, the District’s Sustainability Coordinator, after presenting the student-created Green New Deal for the CCUSD during an Earth Day ceremony at The Wende Museum.
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