Climate Action Update

Spring 2024 🌱

Attend the DPS Climate Summit

Friday, April 19, 4-7:30 p.m. at East High School


Whether you're a seasoned sustainability champion or new to the game, all are invited to learn and fight for a sustainable future at the second annual DPS Climate Summit, brought to you by the DPS Students for Climate Action.


Join students, staff, and community members as we empower each other to make a difference by learning how to contribute to climate action, hone leadership skills, and find your place in the District's Climate Action Plan.


The keynote speaker is Madhvi Chittoor, a 13 year old Climate Justice Activist, the youngest U.N. Child Advisor, and founder of Madhvi4EcoEthics and the EcoEthics Global Movement. Madhvi has brought about large scale changes locally, nationally, and globally through advocacy and policy changes to protect our ecosystems, health, and climate. 


You won't want to miss this inspring event - register today!

Register for the DPS Climate Summit

Share How You're Celebrating Earth Day

Earth Day - April 22 - is just around the corner, and now is the time to start planning your school's Earth Day project. Will you do a campus clean up, a garden workday, or pledge to lessen your impact?


Please submit any events that your school will be hosting for Earth Day or Earth Month using this short form. The Sustainability Team will then highlight them in a district-wide calendar of events.


If you want support for your Earth Day activities, please reach out to the Sustainability Team at dept_sustainability@dpsk12.net.

Share your Earth Day Celebration

Earth Month Bingo Contest


Looking for a fun and active way to engage your students and staff for Earth Month? Invite them to play the Earth Month Bingo contest. Get five in a row and enter for a chance to win an eco-friendly prize!


Students and staff who submit their winning bingo card (screenshot or list of completed actions) to dept_sustainability@dpsk12.net by Tuesday, April 30, will be entered in a drawing for prizes that help you be green all year long.


Helpful links for bingo participants include:


View Bingo Card
Submit Your Bingo Entry

Small maps combine to show stark warming


Compelling data visualizations are a key way for the public to understand the impacts of climate change. The data visualization below by Ed Hawkins, a climate scientist at the University of Reading, shows the changes in temperature every year from 1850 (before the Industrial Revolution) to 2023.


Blue shows areas that were cooler than average in that year, and red shows warmer than average temperatures.


You can see that our planet is experiencing rapid warming, particularly evident in the Arctic, over the past three decades, largely due to increased carbon pollution in the atmosphere.


2023 was the warmest year on record. 

Curious about your building's energy use?


The Sustainability Team is committed to helping DPS buildings use energy efficiently, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and being transparent and accountable in doing so. 


To that end, we’ve created an energy “report card” on our website to empower you to understand your building’s energy use and to take action to use energy wisely. Updated quarterly, this report card shows how each facility’s energy use per quarter compared to that of the same quarter in the previous year.


NOTE: Buildings are compared only against themselves for equity purposes, since buildings across the district vary by size, age, equipment, and more.


To learn more about how you can save energy, check out sustainable actions you can take at school, home, or the office.


Review Report Card

DPS Gardens receives Garden Foundation Grant


DPS Gardens was awarded $5,000 from the Colorado Garden Foundation (CGF) to support our ongoing work to provide therapeutic and sensory experiences in our gardens in addition to providing greater food access and security.


CGF is a non-profit that provides grants and scholarships for the benefit of Colorado. Kelly Moses and Chris Woodburn received the grant at the Colorado Garden and Home Show in early March. 

Partner Spotlight: Denver Urban Gardens

Denver Urban Gardens (DUG) began as a grassroots movement in the late 1970s when gardeners in Denver’s Northside neighborhood came together to create a space for a group of local Hmong women to grow their own food. Working collaboratively, they transformed a vacant parking lot into what is now the Pecos Community Garden. From there, DUG has grown to 200 community gardens across the metro area.


Denver Public Schools and DUG have partnered for 30 years to bring community gardens to 30 DPS schools across the district. DUG Community Gardens offers schools the opportunity to host a garden space tended by community members, with the school having access to a portion of the space. This partnership allows us to bridge the summer gap, support our educators, provide greater food access, and engage with nature and our community.  


As our partnership with DUG continues to grow (pun intended), we are now bringing Food Forests to several schools and working with the Therapeutic Garden Initiative to transform our garden spaces beyond food production to sanctuaries for social and emotional health.  


Learn how your school can participate in garden opportunities and connect with passionate people here in Denver by emailing Chris Woodburn at cwoodbu@dpsk12.org.

www.sustainability.dpsk12.org

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