An anonymous StuCo officer remembers a meeting of the new initiative.                                                                

On a blustery November morning, an assortment of 9’s, 10’s, 11’s, and even application-fatigued seniors piled into the flexible learning space on the Upper School’s second floor. Free Chicken Mini’s? Math help? No, these students braved the cold room for a discussion on Environmental Justice & Cary Academy, presented by the Student Council’s new “The Forum” and co-hosted by the National Honor Society (NHS) and CA Green organizations. An NHS Speaker Series event in late October had provided a primer on the topic, and this platform aimed to stimulate healthy discourse and focus on solutions.

Said participant Eric Xing (’20), “It was great to see so many people getting together.” Xing, who attended both Forums, appreciated the diversity of turnout. The Forum, after all, was designed to synthesize the values and focuses of various groups on campus, almost in the spirit of interdisciplinary study so common in classrooms throughout the Academy.

On this day, students pondered hog farm sustainability, the Paris Climate Accord, landfill distribution, and more. But the dialogue truly perked up around a segment on the CA Dining Service’s successes and struggles with supporting environmentalism. The conversation ping-ponged between sides of the room, with voices from all corners offering ways to motivate the student body to care about these existing issues. Council faculty advisor and English teacher Jamie Roszel prodded attendees to consider the implications of institutional change—both from a justice-based and pragmatic lens—raising new questions and inspiring further contemplation.

Saajan Patel (’20), Vice President of NHS, offered his take on the proceedings, “I think it went well, with room for progress to be made.” When all was said and done, and Community Time neared its end, this instance of The Forum culminated with laughter over the suggestion that Cary Academy use images or purposeful choice architecture techniques to nudge students towards more conscious choices. Smiles plastered on youthful faces, the students moved on to their next classes, buzzing with energy over the prospect of a Greener Quad for future Chargers.