March 7, 2026
Los Angeles Climate Education Conference
Talking Climate, Sparking Action
Resources
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Schedule
We’re excited to be hosting a day for Los Angeles educators to come together and build community, care, creativity, and connection around climate literacy.
08:45 - 09:00 a.m Check -in
9:00 - 9:10 am Opening Remarks
09:15 - 09:35 a.m Keynote Speaker
09:45 - 10:30 a.m Educator Spotlight Elective
Growing Action (Room 316)
LA’s Oil Industry (Room 313)
Arpilleras (Room 314)
10:30 - 10:50 a.m Snack break
10:50 - 11:35 a.m 1st rotating session
Roundtable (Room 314)
Workshop (Room 316)
11:50 - 12:35 p.m 2nd rotating session
Roundtable (Room 314)
Workshop (Room 316)
12:40 - 01:00 p.m Closing
Please click below to view your session assignments for the elective and rotating sessions.
Our Presenters & Their sessions
Laurel Krooke
keynote speaker - The Emotion of Climate Change
Climate change is happening, and young people are aware of the issues and impacts. States and districts around the country are integrating environmental and climate literacy into their standards and policies to support this growing need for climate change education. We cannot ignore the topic in K-12 education, but it isn’t always easy to incorporate it into the curriculum. It’s critical to acknowledge personal feelings about the subject, as that can impact a teacher’s readiness to examine it with students, and to be aware of our students’ emotions about the topic. Validating student feelings can shift those of helplessness into hopefulness and encourage action. This keynote will discuss research about educators’ perspectives on teaching climate change and navigating the emotions that come with such a topic.
educator spotlight - Growing Climate Action: How science and Students can restore school gardens
Afrodita Fuentes
Discover how a neglected school garden became a powerful catalyst for joyful climate learning, community building, and student-led action. In this hands-on session, participants will engage their senses—seeing, smelling, touching, and even tasting elements of the garden—to experience firsthand how nature-rich environments ignite curiosity, wonder, and deep engagement in students. Through photos, student reflections, and examples from a student-run composting program, you’ll explore how restoring a garden can illuminate soil science, biogeochemical cycles, and the interconnectedness of Earth’s global systems.
educator spotlight - Los Angeles’ oil industry: Environmental Justice in the Language Classroom
John GUzman
This presentation will share insight and ideas on how to incorporate community awareness and environmental justice issues in the language classroom. Attendees will consider interactive activities and independent research opportunities that can guide students through topics like our city’s historical relationship with oil production. Most importantly, we will discuss how to foster student-led conversations about the current state of the oil industry in Los Angeles and what young people can do to advocate for their community’s environmental rights. This will be accomplished through the analysis of a unit from one of Geffen Academy’s Spanish classes.
Ananya Gupta & Isabella Guglielmetti
Workshop Presenters - Bringing Careers to the climate Conversation
educator spotlight - arpilleras: Art as Community truthtelling & Storymaking
Arturo Romo
This interactive workshop introduces participants to the concept of the Arpillera, a popular arts tradition from Chile. Using scrap fabric and naturally dyed cloth, participants will create a work of art that tells the story of climate change from their perspective. Participants will also learn how the finished arpilleras become a powerful tool for creating critical dialog about complex topics in a way that centers collaboration and care. Participants will be provided a lesson guide with resources on how to implement the lesson in their classroom.
Led by the two students behind the Climate Education Initiative, Intersections, this session tackles the question that looms large in climate education: “how do we make students care?” Ananya and Isabella bring their perspective as students as well as creators of climate education and propose a new wellness and optimism-driven career-centered approach. Educators will get a chance to explore these ideas in a workshop activity inspired by bestselling anthology, "What If We Get It Right?” and understand how tying climate to career might be the key to student engagment.
Session Assignments
Elective Educator Spotlights - 9:45 - 10:30am
Growing Climate Action (Room 316)
Crisanta Velazquez
Edna Losa
Hilda Cabrera
Michelle Cohen
Nancy Joaquin
Ndidi Bedor
Thuy Nguyen
Vincenzo Loconte
Los Angeles’ Oil Industry (Room 313)
Adam Feldmeth
Gary Saunders
Gwenda Cuesta
Joanie Banks
Laurel Kruke
Nithya Ramanathan
Tara Ramanathan
William Kangas
Arpilleras (Room 314)
Amanda Dye
Demetrius Flint
J.R. Rich
Jill Mayorga
Josie Torres
Karla Perez Mendoza
Kat Hayes
Kimberly Gallant
Mary Suico
Michael Crosby
Millie Vasquez
Rotating Session #1 - 10:50 - 11:35am
Roundtable (Room 314)
Adam Feldmeth
Anne Marie
Anne Marie Wotkyns
Demetrius Flint
Gwenda Cuesta
J.R. Rich
John Guzman
Laurel Kruke
Mary Suico
Millie Vasquez
Nancy Joaquin
Ndidi Bedor
Tara Ramanathan
Vicenzo Loconte
William Kangas
Student-led Workshop (Room 316)
Afrodita Fuentes
Amanda Dye
Arturo Romo
Crisanta Velazquez
Edna Losa
Gary Saunders
Hilda Carbrera
Karla Perez- Mendoza
Kathryn Hayes
Maskit Maymon
Michael Crosby
Michelle Cohen
Nithya Ramanathan
Thuy Nguyen
Rotating Session #2 - 11:50 - 12:35pm
Roundtable (Room 314)
Adam Feldmeth
Anne Marie
Anne Marie Wotkyns
Demetrius Flint
Gwenda Cuesta
J.R. Rich
John Guzman
Laurel Kruke
Mary Suico
Millie Vasquez
Nancy Joaquin
Ndidi Bedor
Tara Ramanathan
Vicenzo Loconte
William Kangas
Student-led Workshop (Room 316)
Afrodita Fuentes
Amanda Dye
Arturo Romo
Crisanta Velazquez
Edna Losa
Gary Saunders
Hilda Carbrera
Karla Perez- Mendoza
Kathryn Hayes
Maskit Maymon
Michael Crosby
Michelle Cohen
Nithya Ramanathan
Thuy Nguyen
THE Los Angeles Climate Educator Conference
Overview:
This landmark conference is designed to bring together LAUSD high school Climate Champions—dedicated educators leading the charge for climate literacy across the district—with high school teachers from across Los Angeles County.
Climate change education is a rapidly evolving field. This event aims to foster collaboration among a diverse group of educators committed to embedding climate literacy into the ethos of high school education in Los Angeles. Through meaningful dialogue, shared strategies, and community-building, participants will begin cultivating a county-wide network of action-oriented climate educators.
Together, participants will engage in meaningful dialogue, share strategies, and begin to cultivate a county-wide community of action around high school climate literacy.
Sessions
We are crafting sessions and workshops that approach climate literacy from a variety of perspectives:
How to apply the psychology of motivation in the classroom
How to bring climate content into the classroom regardless of discipline
How to seed productive conversations in the classroom
How to find student’s passion using a career lens
All sessions are built to be engaging, conversation-starting and highly relevant and applicable to your own classroom.