Listen Up! Philadelphia Youth Share Their Climate Stories

October 17, 2022

PPEH's Climate Champions, nine high school teachers working in eight Philadelphia School District schools across the city and approximately 200 of their students joined us at Irvine Auditorium for Listen Up! Climate Stories and Philadelphia Youth. Featured speaker Devi Lockwood, author of 1,001 Voices on Climate Change, discussed her work documenting climate change in 20 countries across six continents and led our students and PPEH community in a wonderful Deep Listening session. Afterward, workshops led by facilitators from Cosmic Writers engaged students in the process of climate storytelling and empower them to share their own experiences of climate change in Philadelphia. Here are some photos that document the day.

We are grateful to WHYY for their coverage of this event!

 

Under a white tent, a student talks into a microphone held by a reporter with headphones

Ibraheem Chowdhury, a 12th grader at Northeast High School, speaks to WHYY's Sophia Schmidt about their experiences with climate change.

L: Devi Lockwood answers questions from Climate Champion teachers Freda or Frankie Anderson and Monica Rowley, facilitated by PPEH Founding Director Bethany Wiggin.

R: After a deep listening workshop led by Devi, a student from Paul Robeson High School shares out to the rest of the audience. They and their workshop partner discussed how climate change intersects with race.

Left photo is the panel of teachers and Devi Lockwood under the slide display of Devi's book title, Right photo: students in the audience and a student in a gray coat with a microphone in the foreground

L: Two students share their experience of climate interviewing.

R: Students from different high schools met each other and learned to tell climate stories through creative writing workshops led by Cosmic Writers.

Left: two students participating in the Q and A session, Right: a row of students write on folders as part of a workshop

L and R: The "Visualize It" workshop, created and facilitated by Penn student/PPEH summer research intern Emma Davey, focused on drawing climate stories based on memory and emotions. The finished drawings were placed together to form a "story quilt".

Left: a student draws with crayons on the Irvine stage, Right: a paper quilt of climate stories drawn with crayons
Left: students enter the wooden doors of the Irvine auditorium a fall tree is to the left, right: screenshot of whyy article featuring a student with curly blue hair, wire glasses, and a bright smile