NMH Celebrates Climate Action Week with Campus-Wide Teach-In

Northfield Mount Hermon kicked off its 2026 Climate Action Week celebration with a day of eco-centered workshops and classroom activities on April 27. The annual weeklong celebration, held in recognition of Earth Day, featured presentations from students, alumni, and guest speakers on a variety of topics, demonstrating the fundamental role that environmental issues play across the academic curriculum.

The action began at the all-school morning meeting in Memorial Chapel, where student Ecoleaders outlined the reasons NMH celebrates Climate Action Week and hyped up the crowd with some trivia and prizes.

Following the meeting, students and faculty dove into the day's teach-in activities. Some classes opted to hold lessons outside, while others took a break from their normal schedule to engage in discussions and projects related to environmental causes. A special picnic lunch outside Alumni Hall featured games and additional activities.

Rob Werner '79 hosted a discussion on his experiences as a policy analyst and state director for the New Hampshire League of Conservation Voters. Brant Davis P'25 spoke about his work in the energy sector for the French company Veolia, highlighting the impact of renewable technologies on regional power grids and the complexities of developing a sustainable energy base to meet modern needs.

Davis was impressed by the students' depth of engagement, noting the importance of fostering dialogue around such an essential topic. "Making people think about what's out there and how it works [is key]," he said. "It gives you a sense of the bigger picture. Everyone's mixed on the same points: Is the electric car good? Is it bad? I think that's interesting."

Theresa Snow, founder of the Vermont-based nonprofit Salvation Farms, spoke about developing food systems within rural communities. Catie Dwyer-Huppert and Tessa Dowling from the Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust gave insights into the process and value of creating land trusts. Susan Theberge spoke to students about her experiences in community organizing as the co-founder of Climate Action Now Western Mass. Dr. Robert Jonas, an author, theologian, and environmental steward, discussed the intersection of spirituality and conservation initiatives.

Student and staff-run workshops ranged from interdisciplinary historic timelines of the environmental movement and mathematical evaluations of Earth's "energy budget" to a guided nature walk through NMH’s forest to practice mindfulness and find signs of spring.

Juniors Siddiqi Komou, Seneca Smith, and Crystal Zheng discussed environmental policy-making at the state level and led exercises on the nuts and bolts of community advocacy and lobbying tactics. Their workshop culminated with students contacting local legislators about bills related to environmental protections and oversight.

Understanding the ways policies are enacted and how young people can participate in the process is crucial for the future of the planet, said Zheng. "Our legislators actually care about younger people's voices, and that's not something we see a lot in politics. Teaching kids to get involved earlier on is very effective, because they have to live with the consequences of what we do now for the rest of their lives."

"I think youth are often intimidated, specifically to have lobby meetings," added Smith. "Having the education and tools to go into a lobby meeting or even just to send an email or call your legislators is really important, because we don't have the power to vote. This is your way to show up for what you care about."

Selina Zha '26 and Charlotte Relyea-Strawn '26 focused their workshop on the power of poetry and art to express viewpoints on environmental issues. The two seniors led a discussion on eco-poetry and helped students create poems and collages related to environmental topics.

"Sometimes there's a stigma around environmental activism, that climate activists are just people throwing paint at museums and focusing on negative statistics," Zha said. "You can integrate the beauty of literature with the urgency for climate conservation and create something actionable with a stronger emotional appeal."

Providing the opportunities to make those personal connections with environmental issues is a fundamental part of Climate Action Week at NMH, said physics teacher Darik Velez.

"It gives students multiple ways to find reasons to care about and think about these topics," he said. "It could be your love of nature; it could be financially motivated, or science and technology. Everyone has their angle. The important part is it gets that little light bulb in the back of your head turned on, gets you asking questions and seeing where you fit in the conversation."

Climate Action Week continues through the week with activities including a competition with peer schools to reduce waste in their cafeterias, a plant swap, and a trip to the Connecticut River Valley Environmental Summit at Wesleyan University, where Emily Sun '26 will present her fall semester capstone project on the effects of NMH's wastewater treatment plant on the river's water quality.

Climate Action Week is a shining example of the NMH community's passion and commitment to environmental education and cross-disciplinary inquiry, said Relyea-Strawn.

"There are so many people that want to be involved and care about these topics," she said. "When you have them integrated into classes, you realize that climate and the environment touches every academic subject. I think that Climate Action Week gives people a new lens to understand why these issues matter."

—Max Hunt

Photos by Oliver Scott. See more images from the Climate Action Week teach-in day on Flickr.