How Students and Teachers Are Talking About Climate

Students are heading back to school, and in addition to all of the usual challenges of the school year, some children are carrying an extra weight: climate anxiety. Teachers are also swimming in tricky waters as conversations around the climate crisis — and renewable energy — become more polarized.

Yet there are educators who have worked to create resources for students and teachers, to help bring climate education into the classroom. The question is: How can schools, parents and teachers better help young people navigate the ideas and feelings around a warming planet? 

Guests: 

Margaret Wang-Aghania, Executive Director and Co-Founder, SubjectToClimate

Robin Cooper, Co-Founder and President, Climate Psychiatry Alliance

Melissa Lau, High School Environmental Science Teacher, Piedmont, Oklahoma

Leah Christenson, 2026 Piedmont High School Senior; Vice President, Piedmont High School Green Team 

Alyson Dennie, 2026 Piedmont High School Senior; President Piedmont High School Green Team

This episode features a field piece by Mary Catherine O'Connor, who originally reported the ⁠story⁠ for KALW Public Media. 

Highlights:

00:00 - Intro

3:33 - Margaret Wang-Aghania on her aha moment

5:42 - Margaret Wang-Aghania on how lessons get developed

12:33 - Margaret Wang-Aghania on teacher development

15:00 - Alyson Dennie and Leah Christenson on their climate related feelings

17:10 - Robin Cooper on how the emotions young people face because of climate

24:17 - Robin Cooper on how the moment the guides her thinking 

26:52 - Robin Cooper on how to know if a young person is dealing with climate anxiety

33:34 - Mary Catherine O'Connor’s Piece on Electric Buses in Oakland 

40:05 - Melissa Lau on the arctic trip that changed her life

44:33 - Melissa Lau on not being shy about teaching climate 

48:35 - Melissa Lau on the importance of relationship building

For show notes and related links, visit ClimateOne.org.

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