Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1463867
S A L I N A G R A Y teaches integrated science at Mountain View Middle School in Moreno Valley. She received her doctorate from Stanford University in science education, with a focus on social justice. When it comes to teaching climate change, that's still her focus. "Whenever there's an issue facing any aspect of society, people struggling financially and those who have been his- torically marginalized suffer more," says the Moreno Valley Educators Association member. " This applies to the environ- ment; those with fewer resources and infrastructure suffer more from extreme weather." USC Rossier School of Education's 2021 talking points for teaching climate justice agree: • Food insecurity due to flooding and crop failure affects people of color adversely. • Urban neighborhoods with more pavement and fewer trees experience higher temperatures, increasing the risk of heat illness, especially for those who lack access to air conditioning. • Indigenous communities are losing their homes due to rising sea levels and drought. • People of color are more likely to experience property damage and home- lessness from catastrophic climate events. Gray sees the connection between climate change and the social justice/anti-racism movement growing in importance — especially since the World Health Organization believes that climate change will cause approx- imately 250,000 additional deaths between 2030 and 2050. Her class incorporates the United Nations Sustainable Devel- opment Goals for taking urgent action on climate change. She also teaches the story of the hummingbird by 2004 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai of Kenya. A forest is on fire, and the animals watch helplessly as it burns. When a small hummingbird flies to the nearest stream and spreads drops of water on the fire as fast as it can, the other animals tell the bird that it is too little and a drop of water doesn't have much impact. But the hummingbird refuses to be discouraged and tells them, "I am doing the best I can." " The point of the story is that we are all hummingbirds," says Gray. "We should all be doing the best we can to save our environment." for ward and be inform ed by science, w hich has brought us a long way so far.' e purpose of my class is to focus on the science." Larson worries that the climate of political polar- i z a t i o n h a s h i n d e re d peoples' ability to find c o m m o n g r o u n d a n d w o r k t o w a r d f i n d i n g real solutions. " We're being pushed to such extremes that p e o p l e e i t h e r t h i n k c l i m a t e c h a n g e i s a ho a x or that we're al l d o o m e d . I a m t r y i n g f o r a m o r e c e n t r i s t appro a ch of brin g in g people together regard- less of politics, so we can look at this seriously, come together and take action." "I am trying for a more centrist approach of bringing people together regardless of politics, so we can look at this seriously, come together and take action." —Jon Larson, Sierra College Faculty Association A Social Justice Issue Larson doing research at Lake Tahoe. 22 cta.org Jon Larson Salina Gray Feature