PONTIAC — An international environmental summit will bring together students from around the world next month, thanks to the efforts of Pontiac Township High School students.
In collaboration with students at Grand River Preparatory Academy in Michigan, students in Paul Ritter’s environmental science class have designed and developed the first Youth Environmental Summit, or YES Summit, to share their ideas and projects and engage with environmental leaders on an international scale.
Molly Masching, a senior at PTHS, said before taking this class, a summit like this wouldn’t have been important for her.
But now, having worked with the Illinois Department of Transportation on a pollution project and learned more about how environmental issues connect on a personal level, “It becomes really a concern, and so being able to connect with all of these people from around the world and realize that we are the change that needs to happen,” she said. “I would say that just realizing it is something we can change and it is something we can work on has made it very important to me. Now it’s very important that we do continue and we do make this change and we talk to people who can help us.”
She has been working with her classmates and the students at Grand River, pulling their skills together to get the word out and organize the summit's TED Talk-style sessions, using social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram in hopes of reaching more students.
Students from Canada, Mexico, India, Kenya, Indonesia and 20 states in the U.S. will participate in the virtual summit from 9:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Feb. 17 and 24.
Free access to the summit will be available at youthenvironmentalsummit.org, and the sessions will be recorded and available for playback on YouTube afterward.
The main topics for presentation are climate change, water pollution, conservation, agricultural practices and sustainability, but students will also speak on ocean noise, deforestation, battery recycling, radiation exposure and environmental contamination.
“It’s exciting to watch these kids in action, and that’s the greatest part, because you sit there and you go, ‘I’m in Pontiac, Illinois — what can I do?’ Well, let me show you what you can do from Pontiac, Illinois,” Ritter said.
The YES Summit also will include keynotes speakers from some of the organizations supporting the students. Support and assistance has come from the United Nations, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EarthEcho International, U.S. Geological Survey, Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative, IDOT, Illinois Audubon Society, Defenders of Wildlife, Operation Endangered Species, Four Fifths a Grizzly and Everyone’s Collective.
Students and attendees will have the opportunity to engage with the speakers and ask questions about their work.
“That's the beautiful thing about this: There’s an opportunity for people to ask questions and really interact, so the speakers are inspiring change, encouraging best practices or just networking,” Ritter said.
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Students in Paul Ritter's environmental science class at Pontiac Township High School work on a pollution project that will be presented at the Youth Environmental Summit in February. From left are Johnny Lenox, Logan Brummel, Peyton Cheek, Molly Masching.
Students in Paul Ritter's environmental science class at Pontiac Township High School work on a pollution project that will be presented at the Youth Environmental Summit in February. From left: Logan Brummel, Peyton Cheek, Georgie Di Nardi, Ashlyn Bernard, Molly Masching, Johnny Lenox
Pontiac Township High School student Dani Grace Schrock collects trash as part of a pollution project that will be presented next month at the students' international Youth Environmental Summit.
Pontiac Township High School Students Molly Masching and Emma O'Lone work on an environmental project that will be presented at the students' international Youth Environmental Summit in February.