Park Slope Elementary Will Have Its Own March For Climate Strike

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — A local elementary school is planning their own take on the youth-led "Climate Strike" that will descend on Foley Square on Friday, the principal said in a letter to parents last week.

Students at P.S. 321, a kindergarten through fifth grade school on Seventh Avenue, will take a march down the street with signs for their own version of the Sept. 20 Climate Strike which is expected to draw a huge crowd to Foley Square joining similar rallies across the world coinciding with the United Nations General Assembly.

The kids have been learning about global warming in their classes all week to prepare for the school-wide activity, principal Liz Phillips told parents. The lessons and the local march will help the younger students participate in the youth-led day of climate change action in an age-appropriate way, Phillips said.

"What is particularly impressive about this movement—and relevant to our students—is that this world-wide movement focusing on the Climate Emergency is being led by young people," Phillips wrote. "We believe in empowering students and giving them the tools that they need to understand the important issues of our time. Participating in this day of action is one of the ways we can do this."

Before the march, Friday will start with a school-wide singalong at P.S. 321 of "This Pretty Planet," Phillips said. Staff will sing the song through the loudspeaker at 8:50 a.m. and give students copies of the words so they can sing along.

The kids will then walk down Seventh Avenue near First and Second streets and surround three sites of the school, holding up signs to support action on climate change, according to the letter.

The aim of the "Climate Strike" is to demand an end to fossil fuel use and a transition to green energy, according to the Department of Education.

To prepare for the day, Phillips said, teachers talked about how global warming affects weather, plants, animals and what kind of crops can grow. They focused on what everyone, including kids, can do to contribute to a healthy planet and, for some of the older grades, the science of climate change or the history of American activism on the issue.

"We are excited to have our students see that children not much older than some of them have been leading a movement for change," Phillips said. "We understand of course that the issue of Climate Change needs to be handled with sensitivity and in age appropriate ways, and we also know that any discussion needs to be respectful of diverse perspectives."

Parents who do not want their child to participate can have them stay in the building supervised during the march, Phillips added. She also invited parents to join in the activity.

The New York City climate strike is backed by more than 100 environmental and political activist groups and other institutions, including New York Communities for Change, The New School and the Sierra Club.

The protesters' demands include a "Green New Deal" that would end fossil fuel extraction and move the nation onto entirely renewable energy sources by 2030. Green New Deal policies have been backed by the likes of U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.