Students are heading back to school, and in addition to all of the usual challenges of the school year, some children are carrying an extra weight: climate anxiety. Teachers are also swimming in tricky waters as conversations around the climate crisis — and renewable energy — become more polarized.

Yet there are educators who have worked to create resources for students and teachers, to help bring climate education into the classroom. The question is: How can schools, parents and teachers better help young people navigate the ideas and feelings around a warming planet? 

Guests: 

Margaret Wang-Aghania, Executive Director and Co-Founder, SubjectToClimate

Robin Cooper, Co-Founder and President, Climate Psychiatry Alliance

Melissa Lau, High School Environmental Science Teacher, Piedmont, Oklahoma

Leah Christenson, 2026 Piedmont High School Senior; Vice President, Piedmont High School Green Team 

Alyson Dennie, 2026 Piedmont High School Senior; President Piedmont High School Green Team

This episode features a field piece by Mary Catherine O'Connor, who originally reported the ⁠story⁠ for KALW Public Media. 

Highlights:

00:00 - Intro

3:33 - Margaret Wang-Aghania on her aha moment

5:42 - Margaret Wang-Aghania on how lessons get developed

12:33 - Margaret Wang-Aghania on teacher development

15:00 - Alyson Dennie and Leah Christenson on their climate related feelings

17:10 - Robin Cooper on how the emotions young people face because of climate

24:17 - Robin Cooper on how the moment the guides her thinking 

26:52 - Robin Cooper on how to know if a young person is dealing with climate anxiety

33:34 - Mary Catherine O'Connor’s Piece on Electric Buses in Oakland 

40:05 - Melissa Lau on the arctic trip that changed her life

44:33 - Melissa Lau on not being shy about teaching climate 

48:35 - Melissa Lau on the importance of relationship building

For show notes and related links, visit ClimateOne.org.

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