On November 4, 2021, Mackintosh Academy in Littleton, Colorado was awarded Climate Action Project School of Excellence. Only 250 schools globally were recognized because of their intense work on climate education in a whole-school approach. The recognition was awarded by Cartoon Network Climate Champions and Climate Action Project.
Cartoon Network Climate Champions is a climate change awareness initiative that sets out to inspire kids to take on daily challenges that collectively can make a big difference to the health of our planet. It has been developed in collaboration with WWF, a world-renowned environmental organization.
Climate Action Project is a free, global education project that was launched by Take Action Global, an education nonprofit based in the USA, involving 2,700,000 teachers and students across 146 countries. The project aims to help students learn about the climate crisis in authentic ways and disseminate solutions online.
The recognized schools submitted their work for the past year and met extensive criteria, including a school-wide commitment to climate education and student solutions.
All Mackintosh Academy middle school students in grades 7 and 8 researched climate change at a local and global level and developed possible solutions as part of an intensive worldwide six-week study. As part of this process, they collaborated with students around the world to share ideas and solutions. Mackintosh students are now drawing on this research and collaboration to develop action projects that could help solve climate change. These projects will be shared on a digital platform with the Climate Action Project. Some of the ideas Mackintosh students developed include having children in elementary schools around the world pledge to plant trees, taxing and removing subsidies for coal and gas while providing greater subsidies for replacing fossil fuels with renewable energies, and working with businesses and governments to limit deforestation.
Diane Dunne, Mackintosh Academy Head of School: “We are thrilled to have been honored with this award, but more importantly, we are enormously proud of our students who are not afraid to tackle big problems and come up with real-world solutions. As students in an International Baccalaureate World School, our Mack kids shine brightest when they put their knowledge to work in contributing to real change in the world.”
The selected 250 Climate Action Project Schools of Excellence were announced on November 4, 2021 during Climate Action Day, an annual online live event attended by 250,000 people globally. The event speakers included HRM Prince William, President James Alix Michel, Seychelles, Rick Davis, NASA, Matt Larsen-Daw, WWF, HRM Princess Esmeralda, Belgium, Juan Pablo Celis Garcia, UN Environment Programme, and other world leaders, climate scientists, and activists.
The winners were announced by Dan Russell, the voice actor behind several characters in Cartoon Network global hit series The Amazing World of Gumball, and Nandi Bushell, an 11-year-old musician, an influencer and passionate climate advocate.
HRM Prince William said, “We need youth’s creativity to repair our planet. We need students to invent and to innovate – to think beyond where we are now and to be optimistic about our future.”