Environmental News

Rivertowns Students Crush Earth Month

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Earth Day event — Children at Springhurst Elementary School in Dobbs Ferry participate in Earth Month activities. (Photo: Courtesy of Sara Sellitti of the Dobbs Ferry PTSA).

April 23, 2024

By Kris DiLorenzo–

Hastings-on-Hudson, Dobbs Ferry, and Ardsley — All over the world, young people are leading the fight against climate change. Sweden’s Greta Thunberg may be the most famous representative of this movement, but Rivertowns students of all ages are the local leaders.

Hastings High School’s Environmental Club, Ardsley High School’s Environmental Task Force, and Dobbs Ferry’s Springhurst Elementary School are among the many entities holding events during April, Earth Month. The Hastings club is partnering with the Village, and Springhurst is a longtime partner with the Dobbs Ferry PTSA.

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Just in time for Earth Day, Hastings Mayor Niki Armacost made an important public announcement: Hastings is one of 100 municipalities worldwide to receive a $50,000 grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Youth Climate Action Fund. The money will be distributed as microgrants to youth (ages 15-24) who propose local projects addressing climate change. Projects that are selected must be completed by Sept. 28; after that, the Mayor’s Climate Youth Council (MCYC) would be eligible for a $100,000 grant.

Co-presidents of the Environmental Club, seniors Mia Christie and Aynsley Zamore, co-founded the MCYC as sophomores in May 2022 “to bring students together to fight climate change on a local level, by setting achievable goals and taking productive action,” as described in their written presentation to the Village. Zamore and Christie recently spoke with the Rivertowns Current about their efforts.

“We used to go on runs in the dark of winter and talk about things that we wanted to get involved with in the town, and we always felt we lacked a way to involve ourselves as youths,” Zamore recalled. “There was definitely a barrier there.” In February 2022 the girls penned an article for The Buzzer, the school’s online newspaper, titled “A Climate-Conscious Future for Hastings.” They later met with Armacost and Village Trustee Morgen Fleisig to discuss how to bridge the gap between youth and adults.

Zamore and Christie will review the grant applications and choose potential projects they consider most beneficial to the community. If they’re inundated, a panel of adults will participate. To help students who want to make a change but don’t know how, the two brainstormed ideas. Christie explained, “Our goal is…once we start talking about their projects, to make them become long-term members of the Environmental Club.”

To read the rest of this story in full, go to Rivertowns Current, found at: https://rivertownscurrent.substack.com/p/rivertowns-students-crush-earth-month

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