This past Saturday, over 220 young people, ages 13-18, took over the Stata "Street" and lecture halls as we hosted the 9th Annual Youth Summit on Climate Change. It was a beautiful sight!  It has been an honor and a pleasure working with the Boston Latin School's Youth Climate Action Network, the organizer of the summit, for almost a decade.  

When we started out 9 years ago, a few high schools participated, with Boston Latin making up the majority of attendees.  On Saturday, we had 51 high schools represented!  The network widens every year and the summit provides young people with knowledge, strategies and a chance to meet other students engaged in environmental activism.

While it's sometimes easy to succumb to hopelessness, being involved with these young people not only gives me hope, but a renewed sense of commitment and responsibilty.  I feel that same commitment when I work with MIT students who are dedicating time and energy in creating awareness in our community.  Two MIT students, Jonathan Krones and Geoffery Supran, taught workshops for the summit (climate change and weather and "futuristic" energy) .  Jonathan has been very active in Sloan Sustainability and Geoffrey has been instrumental in heading up the MIT Fossil Free initiative.  The students participating in their workshops all gave a resounding, "Awesome!!" when asked about their workshops.

That is the word that came to mind when I looked at the huge crowd of young people in the Stata Auditorium. Their enthusiasm created in me a renewed commitment to do all I can to make a difference.  As Ari Stern, the 24-year-old climate researcher who gave a fabulous 10 minute keynote to kick off the day said, "We are on the right side of history!! LET'S GO!!"

Check back here to watch videos of the day!