The Green Schools Conference (GSC) provides a platform for the green schools community that inspires and facilitates the progress of the green schools movement. At the conference, stakeholders come together to share, learn and celebrate.

On March 7, the final day of the 2024 conference, attendees can anticipate engaging education sessions covering various themes ranging from sustainability planning and health and wellness to schools as a teaching tool and green infrastructure. The day will conclude with remarks from Santa Fe Public Schools Superintendent Hilario “Larry” Chavez, who will present the Youth Climate Action Panel. Chavez will share information on the district’s commitment to sustainability and its integral role in student education.

Conference sessions

Early morning sessions include:

Sustainable Food Systems for a Healthy Community
Resilient Buildings Create Resilient Students: Wellness and NZE Design
Using Student Energy to Save Energy and Achieve Net Zero
STEM to STEAM: Climate Rhymes for Cooler Times
District Sustainability Plans for System Change

Late morning education sessions include:

From Insight to Impact: Turning IAQ and Energy Data into Tangible Results for Schools
Empowering Youth to Drive System Change and Lead Local Climate Action
Schools as Resilience Hubs: Exploring an Equitable Response to Community Stressors

Meet the youth climate action panelists

The final day of GSC ends with an inspiring and thoughtful panel of incredible youth working toward climate action in their communities. Together, the panelists will showcase their work as climate leaders to champion sustainability.

Amara Ifeji, moderator: An internationally awarded nonprofit leader in climate and environmental justice, Ifeji contributes to and advances legislative and policy solutions focused on systemic transformation to ensure equitable access to the outdoors and climate justice education for all youth. In high school, her barriers to access to environmental learning compelled her to lead community science learning efforts for students of color like herself. As the director of policy with the Maine Environmental Education Association, Ifeji mobilizes youth-led, grassroots movements to advance state and federal environmental education policies, recently contributing to securing over $2 million for climate education professional development in Maine. In recognition of her work, she was named a 2021 National Geographic Young Explorer and 2022 Brower Youth Awardee.
Carmen Valentino, panelist: Valentino is a sophomore at The Academy for Technology and the Classics, where she is a member of the National Honors Society, Model U.N., Amnesty International, Natural Helpers and the student council. Valentino has participated in the Climate Advocates Voces Unidas (CAVU) Climate Innovation Challenge, a free STEAM program from CAVU that focuses on science and storytelling to create climate crisis solutions, for multiple years. She is passionate about engaging youth in climate leadership and is currently a youth advisory board member. In her free time, Valentino is a competitive tennis player and an avid sports fan, and she enjoys reading, hiking and traveling.
Alex Wagonfeld, panelist: Wagonfeld is a climate activist at The Nueva School and has taken on many climate initiatives to create an impact on the national, regional and city levels. Wagonfeld has created the nationwide movement for high schools to divest from fossil fuels; mobilized hundreds of Bay Area youth to take climate action through a website he created; spoken at over a dozen city council meetings across the Bay Area, successfully pushing for electrification policies; and helped his own school become much more sustainable.
Magnificent Farrell, panelist: Farrell is a 19-year-old college student at the University of New Mexico. He has been active with the Global Warming Express/Emergency, a national program that educates students on climate science and solutions and encourages climate activism, since he was nine years old. He has been involved in representing the group by giving speeches, accepting awards, recording audio for climate change reading material and writing an article for the Santa Fe Reporter about one of the group's very own youth activists. He graduated high school early, obtaining his GED from Santa Fe Community College. Outside of the world of climate activism, he teaches grades one through eight at a nonprofit school in Santa Fe and teaches circus skills at Wise Fool New Mexico. In order to do his part for the environment, he’s made things like picking up litter, recycling and reducing his trash production second nature.

Register for the 2024 conference

Youth climate action panelists announced for the 2024 Green Schools Conference