![Four St. Mark's students and two faculty stand next to one another outside wearing matching YESS t-shirts.]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1678500196/stmarksschool/lsiqiktmss2rhpuqtirc/YESS.png","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1678500196/stmarksschool/lsiqiktmss2rhpuqtirc/YESS.png","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1678500196/stmarksschool/lsiqiktmss2rhpuqtirc/YESS.png","width":675}])
St. Mark’s Students Attend YESS!
Four St. Mark’s students and two faculty members recently attended the Youth Empowerment and Sustainability Summit (YESS!) at the Ashokan Center in Olivebridge, N.Y. From February 12 to 14, 2023, Mimi Burnett ’25, Rory Hutchins ’25, Emily Ling ’26, and Wendy Wu ’24—alongside Sustainability Coordinator Lindsey Lohwater and Visual Arts Teacher Tiffany Doggett—participated in workshops on a variety of topics and themes related to sustainability. They listened to keynote speakers, learned about career opportunities in the field, and discovered energy reduction measures to employ now at St. Mark’s.
“It was phenomenal to see students from all over the Northeast getting together to talk about these issues,” said Lohwater, noting that this was the first time our School has participated in the summit. She hopes to continue this type of conference and networking with peer schools in a more local context. In the meantime, the St. Markers attending the summit are currently preparing to implement what they learned and share this knowledge with our School community.
On the final day of the summit, all participants were tasked with articulating a vision for what they could bring back to their respective schools. Our students decided to encourage better sustainability practices on campus by advocating for even more community-building measures. For instance, they plan to propose that St. Mark’s students collaborate with the Facilities team and work side-by-side to model care for the earth through shared sustainable behavior and practices. These same students will present their ideas and make recommendations to the Board of Trustees when they come to campus in April.
To learn more about sustainability at St. Mark’s, visit: https://www.stmarksschool.org/community/sustainability
To learn more about YESS!, visit: https://ashokancenter.org/yess-2023/
“It was phenomenal to see students from all over the Northeast getting together to talk about these issues,” said Lohwater, noting that this was the first time our School has participated in the summit. She hopes to continue this type of conference and networking with peer schools in a more local context. In the meantime, the St. Markers attending the summit are currently preparing to implement what they learned and share this knowledge with our School community.
On the final day of the summit, all participants were tasked with articulating a vision for what they could bring back to their respective schools. Our students decided to encourage better sustainability practices on campus by advocating for even more community-building measures. For instance, they plan to propose that St. Mark’s students collaborate with the Facilities team and work side-by-side to model care for the earth through shared sustainable behavior and practices. These same students will present their ideas and make recommendations to the Board of Trustees when they come to campus in April.
To learn more about sustainability at St. Mark’s, visit: https://www.stmarksschool.org/community/sustainability
To learn more about YESS!, visit: https://ashokancenter.org/yess-2023/