Taking action on climate change

Students and teachers aren’t just talking about climate change—they’re taking action. From sensor networks to measure carbon levels to our school gardens, the city of Urbana is buzzing with eco-friendly projects.

Their secret? A mix of big ideas, teamwork, and plenty of determination.

For one student specifically, helping the climate has always been in his best interest and he’s taking it to the whole community.

“What we’re doing is we’re creating low power sensors that’ll be solar power that we’re going to place around the city. We’re already in our second stage of prototyping, so we have working sensors and we’re gonna secure funding. Maybe work with the university if we can get the opportunity,” explained junior Kavi Patel.

These sensors will assess Urbana’s sustainability and help them plan better to protect the environment.

“When the city passes [motions] regarding transportation or clean energy or planting trees, we can have real numerical data to assess the sustainability of our community,” he added.

Agriculture teacher Joan Jach shares Patel’s interest, teaching students how they can aid the climate. This has always been one of her top priorities and the recent California wildfires have given her an opportunity to explore that interest.

“In labs that we are doing we’re talking about the environmental impacts of the fire on not only the people, but the plants, animals and ecosystems that are out there,” said Jach.

Even when learning about the climate and its impacts, students may not know where to begin.

“I really think that they do care about it [the climate], but oftentimes, especially high school students don’t know where to start,” said Jach.

Patel has some easy recommendations.

“What you should be doing to protect the environment. like, maybe if you live within a half a mile, don’t drive, maybe try walking, looking closer at what you consume,” said Patel.

Overall, the environmental impact of the climate has drastically risen in the last 10 years, changing it has become our responsibility. Let’s make a change!