Climate Action Day
August 3, 2026
Columbia Secondary School celebrated twelve years of collaboration with H2O for Life with our walk for water and educational event on June 2, 2026, in conjunction with NYC public schools’ water-themed climate action day. The goal was to raise awareness of water scarcity, fundraise for the Ecole Centre de Formation et d’Application Jean Calvin in Haiti, and inspire global citizenship. Green team members voted to sponsor the project after researching and voting on several options.
Students in 10th-grade global history classes who have learned about global issues all year stepped up and walked 5 km carrying 2 gallons of water as a means of being in solidarity, gaining pledges, and understanding the reality of collecting and carrying water in places without secure access. Other students who could not attend the walk donated baked goods and/or volunteered at a table where we passed out fliers to encourage donations and understanding of the water crisis, particularly for our partner school. Upcycled paper items, decoupage recycled soda bottle vases, and earrings made from bottle rings, along with the baked goods, became free gifts for anyone who donated.
NYCPS has hosted four themed climate action days for the last several years (Energy; Waste; Health/Wellness/Green Spaces; and Water), and NY state recently enacted a mandatory requirement to teach students about causes, impacts, and solutions to climate change so the event became a schoolwide educational activity designed to meet these goals as well. Through the H2O for Life fundraising activity, students understood and practiced sustainability and solidarity to build and support both local and global communities, while having fun in the process.
Students in 10th-grade global history classes who have learned about global issues all year stepped up and walked 5 km carrying 2 gallons of water as a means of being in solidarity, gaining pledges, and understanding the reality of collecting and carrying water in places without secure access. Other students who could not attend the walk donated baked goods and/or volunteered at a table where we passed out fliers to encourage donations and understanding of the water crisis, particularly for our partner school. Upcycled paper items, decoupage recycled soda bottle vases, and earrings made from bottle rings, along with the baked goods, became free gifts for anyone who donated.
NYCPS has hosted four themed climate action days for the last several years (Energy; Waste; Health/Wellness/Green Spaces; and Water), and NY state recently enacted a mandatory requirement to teach students about causes, impacts, and solutions to climate change so the event became a schoolwide educational activity designed to meet these goals as well. Through the H2O for Life fundraising activity, students understood and practiced sustainability and solidarity to build and support both local and global communities, while having fun in the process.
