Students and staff prepare April Student Environmental Alliance summit; students press district on food waste and plastics

Student members and their mentor reported March 5 on recent student engagement, outreach plans and a push to tackle food waste and single-use plastics in cafeterias.

Miss Novick, student mentor, summarized the students’ year of activity and said the Student Environmental Coalition has produced videos, presentations and outreach to teachers and peers. Novick read the nomination language she submitted for a youth climate award, noting the students ‘‘bridge institutional priorities with grassroots activism, creating a powerful model for environmental education and policy advancement.’’

Students Michael Witherspoon, James Dubon Garcia and Olivia Thomas described the group’s work: planning the Student Environmental Alliance summit, building a communications plan with short videos for each CCAP priority recommendation, arranging an environmental-careers panel and organizing a student exhibit table for the summit. Michael Witherspoon said the group is ‘‘working on getting our first videos out’’ and on social-media outreach; James Dubon Garcia proposed student focus groups and taste tests to address school-lunch quality and reduce food waste.

Director Morrison and food-service staff said the district’s new director of Food and Nutrition Services, Mary Kirkland (introduced earlier in the meeting), has met stakeholders and is open to student input. Morrison said district leadership met that morning and planned student surveys, taste tests and pilot menu changes and that staff already discussed capturing the activities on camera for broader outreach.

Students and committee members also raised single-use plastics in meal service. Students reported breakfasts arriving in single-use plastic bags at some schools; Novick said student teams have calculated strandline-style estimates and expressed concern about the countywide scale of bagged breakfasts. Committee members noted that COVID-era operational changes — which in some cases moved to individually packaged meals — influence current service models and that recycling/collection options (for example, Trex collection programs) exist at some schools but there is no district-wide collection system.

Student summit logistics: staff said the Student Environmental Alliance summit will be a two-day event with an outdoor, hands-on day at Bladensburg Waterfront Park on April 9; staff were finalizing the second-day, conference-style program at Bowie State University and will share final dates and exhibitor invitations as planning continues.

Why it matters: students asked for direct participation in CCAP implementation — from taste tests to communications — and staff said student input will be used in ongoing food-service planning and outreach. Staff also agreed to connect students to the new director of Food and Nutrition Services for further collaboration.

Ending: staff and students asked interested partners to sign up as exhibitors or workshop presenters for the summit and to expect a save-the-date and partner email from staff.