From September 27-30, students from Terra Linda High School’s Marin School of Environmental Leadership (MSEL) program will travel to Miami, Florida to partake in the Climate Reality Leadership Corps Training, an environmental conference run by Al Gore, to spread awareness and educate the leaders of tomorrow on the continuously rising issue of climate change.

With climate change being a daunting and rapidly expanding issue, it’s a topic that many still want to ignore. But later this month, 11 students from TL, ranging in different ages and grades, will travel to Miami for the chance to really understand this global problem and educate themselves and others on how to deal with it.

“It’s something that’s important to me,” says Ana Paula Kitos, 17, a senior at TL. “I think it should be important to everyone.” Kitos explained that she and her fellow peers will get the opportunity to learn from environmental scientists and leaders from all around the globe about climate change.

“We’ll be involved in workshops and we’ll get to listen to what these people have to say. It’ll be a real hands-on way to learn the science behind climate change, what we as human beings are doing to contribute towards it, and then learn how to prevent or lessen any further contribution.”

The Climate Reality Leadership Corps Training’s goal is to “catalyze a global solution to the climate crisis by making urgent action a necessity across every level of society.” This is a goal that Kitos and the other 11 students hope to implement upon their return.

The training program accepts student applications from across the nation and selects those who they believe best fit the program. MSEL teachers encouraged, though did not require, all of their MSEL students to apply. Included in the application were questions about the applicants’ involvement with environmental programs around their community, such as volunteer work and internships. Additionally, students had to answer essay questions about why they wanted to be involved in the training.

But what’s the point of all of this? Kitos states, “when we get back, we have these 10 Acts of Environmental Leadership in our community. Basically, we need to take the skills that we have learned at the training and then apply them to our life and our community’s life as a whole. We can go about this by giving presentations at school, or submitting articles, and just generally educate the people around us.”

Hopefully the return of these MSEL students brings more knowledge and a newfound understanding of climate change. Their eagerness to not only share their understanding, but begin a widespread education within the Terra Linda community will, in turn, give us a better chance of solving this global issue.