EcoRise

09/02/2026

📣 Applications for the Austin and San Antonio Youth Climate Councils are officially open, and we'd love your help getting the word out!

This school year, high schoolers in both cities will connect with climate and sustainability professionals, take part in hands-on learning, and find their place in local climate action, all while earning a $400 stipend.

Students of color, students with disabilities, LGBTQIA+, and immigrant/migrant students are especially encouraged to apply. 🙌

📅 Apply by September 17 👉 bit.ly/ycc-app-26

Thank you to Austin Climate Action and Resilience, City of San Antonio Department of Resilience and Sustainability, and the Wayne Hollomon Price Foundation for their support of the Austin and San Antonio Youth Climate Councils. Together, !

08/31/2026

Big news as we head into the new school year: EcoRise just welcomed the largest incoming class of Board members in our history! 🌱

Seven new members are joining us, bringing experience in climate strategy, environmental law, technology, and sustainable real estate to help guide EcoRise's work supporting students and educators nationwide.

Read more about our new Board members and what's ahead 👉 https://www.ecorise.org/news/ecorise-board-of-directors-2026/. Together, !

08/28/2026

EcoRise is sprouting in Oklahoma, and we're looking for an experienced K-12 educator to help support that growth. 🌱

This part-time, contract Education Specialist role will build relationships with OKC-area teachers, coach classrooms implementing EcoRise lessons, help design and lead professional development, and support our inaugural Central Oklahoma Student Innovation Showcase.

We're looking for someone with 3+ years of classroom experience, a passion for environmental education, and comfort juggling multiple projects at once. 🌱

Applications are open through September 15. Learn more and apply 👉 https://bit.ly/4zJpdnu

Together, !

08/26/2026

Six years, two as Board Chair, and a decade of partnership that started with an open door. 🌱

Dr. Heather Hairston is closing out her final term on EcoRise's Board this summer. It started in 2015, when she welcomed EcoRise into her DC elementary school for our very first workshop outside of Texas, a partnership that grew into student innovation programs across the district. She's not going far. Heather joins our Advisory Council this fall.

We're also welcoming Josh Wiener back as Board Chair, alongside Sean McPhillips, Keith Wright, and Brook Capps, rounding out our executive leadership.

Read the full story: https://www.ecorise.org/news/ecorise-board-of-directors-2026/

Together, !

08/19/2026

"What does a livable future actually look like?" That's the kind of question ASU's futures-thinking games asked K–12 educators to sit with at this year's EcoRise Summer Institute.

Blake Haygood from Austin ISD dug into one of those games, Cards for Humanity, alongside other EcoRise Green School Leaders and Teacher Ambassadors. Each person took on the role of a different community member and worked through real ways to tackle sustainability challenges together. Blake said the game would give his students different work, not more work.

The game came from Arizona State University's Rob Walton College of Global Futures, joining EcoRise and UCLA School of Education & Information Studies to co-host the Institute for the first time this year. Two universities investing directly in K–12 climate education, alongside a national nonprofit, doesn't happen every day, and it's exactly the kind of collaboration this work needs more of. 🌱

"Meaningful progress happens through collaboration," said Kristi Hibler-Luton, EcoRise's Chief Partnership Officer. Expanding partnerships like this one means meeting teachers where they are, connecting research directly to classroom practice for every student.

Read more about ASU's role in this year's Institute 👉 https://news.asu.edu/b/20260817-asu-joins-collaboration-expanding-access-sustainability-education-ecorise-and-ucla

Thank you, Arizona State University's Rob Walton College of Global Futures (The Sustainability Teachers' Academies), for joining us this year! Together, !

08/17/2026

Edutopia published a story on TREEAMS, a student-led effort to plant 5,000 native trees across Los Angeles following the 2025 wildfires. 🫱🌱

EcoRise is proud to have partnered with UCLA School of Education & Information Studies and Seven Arrows Elementary School to design lessons that high schoolers teach directly to younger students, using our Sustainable Intelligence curriculum to tie the tree planting to real classroom learning in reforestation, soil health, and ecosystem recovery.

Read the full story 👉 https://www.edutopia.org/article/cross-age-environmental-education-project

Together, .

08/14/2026

Congratulations to Maryam, a former EcoRise Youth Climate Council member and current EcoRise Board Member, on being invited to the America's Promise Alliance Youth Trustee Board! 🎉

The Youth Trustee Board is a leadership body made up of young people from across APA member organizations. Trustees contribute their perspective to APA's research and policy work while building their own leadership skills and knowledge of the nonprofit sector.

Maryam's path from EcoRise's Youth Climate Council to this role is a strong example of what happens when young people are given a real seat at the table over time, not just a single program touchpoint. We're so proud of you, Maryam!

Read more 👉 https://www.americaspromise.org/maryam-zoweil

Together, .

08/12/2026

August 28th is the deadline to add your school to the National School Garden Map. 🌱 If you haven't checked yet, now's the time. See SGSO Network's post below to get started. Together, !

08/10/2026

From a proof of concept in one hallway to a case made to retrofit the whole school. Last month, the Deer Path Middle School seventh graders stood before the Lake Forest School District 67 Board of Education and shared their data: converting fluorescent emergency lights to LEDs saves energy and money.

The presentation built on an energy Eco-Audit the Green Team completed this spring, supported by teacher Nicole Burmingham and their school's facilities team. Their plan, Operation Light Swap, funded by a $1,000 Student Innovation Grant, retrofitted nine fixtures with LED troffers, cutting energy use by about two-thirds, saving $241/year.

Read the full story 👉 https://lakeforestjournal.com/articles/deer-path-students-pitch-1-000-led-retrofit-to-district-67-board-mqtgtkwx

Now they're using that data to push the district for a campus-wide swap. Congratulations to the DPM Green Team for putting their research to work! And thank you to the Illinois Green Alliance for connecting EcoRise with the Deer Path team. Together, !

Deer Path Middle School's Green Team presented their "Operation Light Swap" LED retrofit project to the District 67 Board of Education at the June meeting,…

08/05/2026

Do you know how to make your worms happy enough to help you compost? Donovan does! He was one of hundreds of middle school students who spent the summer diving into waste, ecosystems, and hands-on STEM through Breakthrough Central Texas's Middle School Summer Academy, where AmeriCorps teachers used EcoRise curricula and facilitated activities and games to bring the science to life.

Connect your students to engaging eco-literacy at learn.ecorise.org! Together, .