Youth for Environmental Action

Follow us on Instagram! @youth4environmentalaction

“I am passionate about social justice and I want to make sure that future generations have the same opportunities to be enriched in the outdoors as I have had.”

–Youth for Environmental Action Leader

WHAT IS YEA & HOW TO JOIN

Youth for Environmental Action is a group of high school students from across Santa Cruz County who are passionate about the environment and who want to take action for the future. YEA students work together on projects that increase school sustainability, advocate with school leaders for action, and plan and lead an annual countywide Environmental Action Summit.

WANT TO JOIN? Submit this application form and we will contact you with more information about meetings. No previous leadership experience is needed and it's a great community service opportunity! For more details see the program overview here and check out these Alumni Spotlights to hear what the experience was like for past student leaders.

YEA SUMMIT

Click here for sign-up locations

See this Summit Overview and Registration Information for more info.

To support youth to be part of solutions and decisions, Youth for Environment Action (YEA) hosts an annual Summit as a day-long school field trip that brings students from high schools across the county together with school district leaders and community decision makers to collaborate on positive change for the future. Students are the group that will be most impacted by climate change, yet too often our voices are left out of conversations about how to address these matters. Let's change that!

For a recap of last year's Summit, read the article below authored by Sylvi, YEA's Aptos High Student Leader

MORE YEA ACTION PROJECTS

Survey on School Environmental Action

TAKE THE 2025 YEA Survey NOW! YEA created a survey to gather data directly from high school students and staff about their experiences of how sustainable schools are, how much schools connect students with environmental curriculum, and how climate change and environmental issues affect students mental and physical health. Explore the Survey Results for both 2022-23 and 2023-24 here. You can see countywide data or filter by schools and districts.

Board Resolution for Schools

In 2021-2022, YEA leaders developed a TEMPLATE Board Resolution for Environmental Action. YEA Student Leaders met with the Santa Cruz County School Board Association to deliver this presentation and share the template resolution.

Elevating Student Voice

YEA Students bring youth perspectives to school board presentations, radio programs, conferences, district green teams, and education events. They also produce videos to share youth voices with school leaders, teachers and peers. See our youtube channel and follow @sccstudentleadership on Instagram to hear from us.

Listen to YEA Student Leaders Sophia and Natasha's 2024 interview on KSQD radio's Inside Education program! They share about Youth for Environmental Action and the changes happening at their school thanks to collaboration between students and school leaders that began at YEAs annual student-led Summit.

2024 YEA Interview--ksqd.org.mp3

For more information contact: Amity Sandage, Environmental Literacy Coordinator and YEA Advisor, at asandage@santacruzcoe.org

Meet the 2024-2025 YEA Team

Alumni Spotlights

Where are they now? Click on the link above to meet some of the founders and early leaders of Youth for Environmental Action! Many thanks to Sydney Haddad, Oberlin College '26, for thsi project.

Y.E.A Advisor

Amity Sandage,

pronouns: she/her/hers

Environmental Literacy Coordinator at Santa Cruz County Office of Education

My work, which I love, is to support students to build their understanding of and connection to the environment, so they are empowered and prepared to take action for a sustainable future.
A quote that I believe in: "Like music and art, love of nature is a common language that can transcend political or social boundaries." --Jimmy Carter

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