On April 27, the Townsend Harris Green Team collaborated with the Green Team of Forest Hills High School to host an Earth Day Summit where students gathered to advocate for environmental protection and climate justice. 

Unlike other NYC school events, the Earth Day Summit was entirely student-led. 

Students who attended participated in a plethora of Earth Day-inspired activities. Some of the activities included building an Earth vision board out of recycled materials, writing letters about the Earth, and hearing speeches from environmental advocates. There were also competitions where students could win tote bags and beeswax wraps, keeping with the environment-friendly theme. 

With climate change being a pressing issue, the organizers at the event went over ways in which students could be more eco-friendly and reduce their carbon footprint. 

Prisha Rao, senior and president of the THHS Green Team said the club’s main goal for the event was to “have a fun community building event” that will “build lasting connections in the school advocacy space.”

Sophomore Aastha Patel said she thought “these kinds of events are important because they celebrate Earth Day and spread awareness about it.” She continued, “Another thing is that you also get to spend time with your friends and enjoy it while learning something [important].” 

Sophomore Katelyn Roman said they “find it important for our generation to understand and make changes [to the environment] to further help future generations and the Earth Day Summit is one of those opportunities …to be educated on such subjects.”

Prisha said, “This event is important because not only is it educational but it is the first NYC school summit organized by students for students. Creating events like this inspires the student autonomy and establishes our ability to come together for causes.”