Berkshire Country Day School Offers "Green Tweens Summit" for Students in Grades 5-9 Saturday, February 1

STOCKBRIDGE/LENOX, MA (01/21/2020) (readMedia)-- Berkshire Country Day School has an exciting event for kids ages 10-15 who care about the environment and are looking for opportunities to connect with likeminded students and sustainability activists and educators. On Saturday, February 1, the School will host the First Annual Green Tweens Summit on the BCD campus at 55 Interlaken Road, Stockbridge, MA. The half-day, hands-on event, which runs from 10 am to 2 pm, is free and includes a pizza lunch for all participants, but advance registration is required.

Head of School Jenifer Fox says, "The goal of this day is to offer tweens (middle school age kids) the inspiration and the opportunity to 'green-o-vate' together. Our own alumna, Keely O'Gorman, will present the keynote and will be followed by several options of design sprints in which kids can come up with on-the-spot solutions for eco-issues and participate in hands-on workshops."

The idea for the summit grew out of a salon-like discussion held earlier in the school year that centered on the question "Engaging Green Youth: How can children make a difference in saving Planet Earth?" With over 30 participants at that event, including BCD current and past parents, students, community members, and representatives from local environment organizations such as Flying Cloud Institute, Greenagers, the Berkshire Botanical Garden, and the Columbia Land Conservancy, it became clear that children want to be involved in helping to solve problems related to climate change, pollution, and other environmental issues. With few opportunities for this age group, BCD has answered the call with the Green Tweens Summit.

The day will kick off with a presentation by Keely O'Gorman, BCD alumna and current Miss Hall's sophomore, who will talk about her activism around banning plastic straws-a passion and project that began for her when she was a student at BCD. In the true spirit of the Summit, Keely says, "This October of 2019, I presented a bill to the Massachusetts Legislature in an effort to ban plastic straws in Massachusetts. And I want to share how easy it is for every citizen in this country to try to pass a bill or even make changes on a grassroots level, which means at the most basic level."

Throughout the day, middle schoolers from Berkshire and Columbia Counties will act on their passion for the environment and be inspired, connect with other kids, and learn tangible skills to green our schools and communities. Workshops will be led by Maria Rundle of Flying Cloud Institute, Uli Nagel of Living the Change Berkshires, and Mary Stucklen from Berkshire Zero Waste.

For more information and registration forms, visit https://tinyurl.com/GreenTweens or call Berkshire Country Day School at 413-637-0755. This is a FREE event, but advance registration is required by Wednesday, January 29.

Now in its 74th year, Berkshire Country Day School is a Preschool through Grade 9 independent school voted "Best Private School in the Berkshires" for the past three consecutive years through an extensive poll by The Berkshire Eagle. BCD opened new facilities in 2017: the Kevin Hirt Library and Learning Commons and the Kim and James Taylor Music / Performance Room, dramatically impacting the historic 27-acre Stockbridge campus. Students hail from 24 communities in both Berkshire and Columbia Counties, and bus service, including routes serving Pittsfield, Great Barrington, Chatham, NY, and the Hudson, NY, area, offer convenient transportation to serve a growing population. Berkshire Country Day School exists to inspire the individual promise of every student, that each may become an exemplary citizen of the world. For more information about the school, visit berkshirecountryday.org.