On Feb. 18 and 19, SEarCH students participated in the third annual Youth Climate Summit, hosted by the Museum of Life & Science in Durham. Shown are Caroline Hicks, left, Scott Hicks, Jacquelyn Rankin, Jaeden Williams, Alexus Lee, Aubrey Blackwood, Landon Malloy, and Nicholas Weigelt.
DURHAM — Scotland Early College High School students have taken steps toward making a positive impact, for their school as well as the environment.
On Feb. 18 and 19, SEarCH students Aubrey Blackwell, Caroline Hicks, Alexus Lee, Landon Malloy, Jacquelyn Rankin, Jaeden Williams, Nicholas Weigelt and Sustainable Scotland mentor Scott Hicks participated in the third annual Youth Climate Summit, sponsored by the Cornell Douglas Foundation, NC Science Museums Grant Program, Wegmans, and Jennifer and Sandy Williams and hosted by the Museum of Life & Science in Durham.
“Attending the summit is important to me because of how essential our generation is when discussing climate change,” Weigelt said. “It starts with us, and going to climate summits, working with people we’ve never met, all for the same goal, is a way to inspire others to join the fight against climate change.”
They joined more than 100 high school students from across North Carolina — including community organizations and churches — and committed to taking action in their schools and communities for a more sustainable future.
During the summit, participants learned about global climate change and took part in hands-on, interactive sessions focused on reuse and recycling, inclusion and belonging in nature, designing for resilience, energy conservation and pollution, and lobbying for climate action. Following the sessions, a museum educator helped the SEarCH student team make plans to sustain recycling, grow their membership, partner with Scotland County Extension Master Gardeners, educate elementary school students about the environment, and beautify their high school campus in 2023.
Their plans for the future build on their success advocating for the elimination of styrofoam from the school cafeteria and restarting school-wide recycling, successes that took root when they attended the Youth Climate Summit in 2022 and 2023.
“SEarCH has always tried to be a very involved school in the community, and I believe that participating in this summit is just reinforcing SEarCH’s values,” Weigelt said. We want our campus cleaner, and our school better, and our action plan aims to do both, as well as expand the club to last past us seniors who leave this year.”
Students play a leading role, he said. “After attending the summit for three years, I’ve seen the summit grow, and I’ve seen our hard work pay off in other schools and communities,” Weigelt said. “It’s important to me because it’s where change starts, and it’s so essential to carry on this club because of how much it helps the school as well as the community.”