Jersey City Youth Challenged to find Climate Change Solutions within their Community for Annual Event
JERSEY CITY - Mayor Steven M. Fulop announces the 2020 Sustainability STEAM Challenge, the third annual collaboration between the Jersey City Public Schools Curriculum and Instruction Department and the Jersey City Office of Sustainability, to identify and enhance local sustainability efforts. The Sustainable STEAM Challenge uses Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM) to address environmental challenges utilizing problem-based learning which will culminate this week with a virtual pitch event. This year’s Challenge focuses on Climate Action as an extension of the city’s celebration of 2020 as the Year of Climate Action through the creation of the City’s first-ever Climate Action Plan, an outline of strategic framework for how to meet the city’s Climate Goals.
“Our students have had to overcome unprecedented challenges over the past few months, and this STEAM Challenge is a unique program to inspire our youth and get them more involved in sustainability and their community as they identify challenges in their own neighborhoods and come up with real solutions,” said Mayor Fulop. “We want to serve as an example for our youth, and are doing so with our continued efforts on the Climate Action Plan despite the pandemic to prepare for our future and the future for the next generation.”
The Sustainable STEAM Challenge is a citywide initiative to all students grades K-12. Sixteen student teams will virtually pitch their solutions to a panel of city officials and local stakeholders at City Hall this week. Students participating in the online pitch event will be recognized in the categories of most innovative solution, strongest community outreach, most creative presentation and best overall project. Distribution of awards will be announced via the Sustainability STEAM Challenge website (https://sustainablesteamjc.org/) and Jersey City Public School’s website the following week.
Student teams in grades 3-12 are exploring issues related to climate action and have been challenged to identify and present solutions to sustainability-related issues they identified in their own WWW.JERSEYCITYNJ.GOV
neighborhoods. The younger K-2 classrooms have been participating in the challenge by learning about the importance of green spaces and designing their own flag celebrating environmental issues.
Twelve semifinalist designs were voted on by the public last week. The winning design will be made into a flag that will be flown at the artist’s school, City Hall, and the Jersey City Board of Education headquarters. More information on the Sustainable STEAM Challenge can be found at https://sustainablesteamjc.org.
About Year of Climate Action
The City is celebrating 2020 as the Year of Climate Action through the creation of the City’s first-ever Climate Action Plan, which will lay out a strategic framework for how to meet the City’s Climate Goals. If you would like to find out more about the City’s efforts on Climate Change, please visit www.jcmakeitgreen.org/climate-action.
The Year of Climate Action effort is led by the City’s Office of Sustainability, which is dedicated to finding ways to improve the sustainability of the City’s operations, raise public awareness of sustainable practices and issues relevant to Jersey City, and implementing sustainable policies.
All media inquiries should be directed to Kimberly Scalcione at [email protected].