NMH Students Lobby Legislators on Climate

By Kelvin Cheung ’25
Photos by Amy Vongvasin '25

On. Feb. 11, 25 NMH students left campus at 7 am, heading to the Massachusetts State House in Boston to take part in the annual Lobby Day hosted by the Massachusetts Youth Climate Coalition. This marks the second year that NMH Ecoleaders organized the trip, bringing students, 20 of whom had no prior experience, to engage directly with lawmakers on various environmental policies. 

Lobby Day is one of the many outreach events, most of which are summits hosted by other organizations, Ecoleaders join to stay connected with communities beyond NMH and expand our environmental advocacy network. Most summits revolve around conversation about a specific environmental topic. On the other hand, Lobby Day is the activity that brings those conversations to reality and yields changes. It expands Ecoleaders’ work from in-school awareness-boosting activities to policy advocacy that benefit more than just NMH.  

Alongside over 400 students, adult allies, and climate advocates from across the state, double the number since last year, NMH students participated in 60 meetings with Massachusetts policymakers, advocating for six priority bills:

• An Act to Provide “Sunlight” to State Government 
• An Act to Ensure Cleaner Air 
• An Act Preventing Gas Expansion
• An Act Establishing a Climate Change Superfund
• An Act Implementing Interdisciplinary Climate Education
• An Act Establishing the Massachusetts Farm to Schools Program

A week before the event, Massachusetts Youth Climate Coalition provided lobbying training, preparing students with communication techniques to effectively appeal to their legislators. Each participant took a role — bill presenter, storyteller, legislator wrangler, timekeeper, or notetaker — and practiced their individual portions after meeting with their respective meeting groups. 

Meeting facilitators, however, had more logistical planning work. As one of the Ecoleaders, I led the meeting with Rep. Marjorie C. Decker (25th Middlesex district), hosted an online preparation session a few days prior to Lobby Day, strategizing my group’s legislative requests and helping assign stories that best supported each bill. Coordinating schedules among boarding school students, local students, and adults with full-time jobs was challenging. The experience gave me a glimpse of how complex it is to organize an advocacy event that could unite the community’s voices; it required a lot of communication, commitment, and passion from all participants involved. I’m also working to schedule an online lobbying meeting with Rep. Susannah M. Whipps, whose district covers Greenfield, Gill, and Northfield, including the NMH campus. 

NMH students gathered at the Old West Church before marching to the State House after a pizza lunch. Luisa Ortiz ‘26 led chants at the front of the crowd, describing the experience as “exhilarating and thrilling.” Holding a megaphone, she felt the power of rallying hundreds of voices in unison:

 “Tell me what democracy looks like!”

“THIS IS what democracy looks like!”

Her initial nervousness quickly faded and was replaced by an overwhelming sense of energy and unity. Ortiz hopes more students will take leadership roles next year. 

Once inside the State House, students split into their groups for their respective legislator meetings.Each participant had their own motivation for spending their entire day attending. Junsang Ryu ‘27, a first-year participant, was inspired by his involvement in Connecticut River Conservancy's Source to Sea cleanup and wanted to make an impact beyond direct actions. Lobbying was his perfect next step as he worked to change and implement environmental policies that improve the status quo. 

Laurence Pan '27, another first-year participant, had never spoken to a legislator before and found the opportunity interesting. Though initially very nervous about whether he had prepared enough, Pan felt empowered through the chants and was surprised by the supportive atmosphere in his legislator meetings. He realized that his voice matters to policymakers, who were genuinely willing to listen and address the concerns of the youth. Ryu and Pan held the NMH flag during the rally and later met with the staff of Sen. Brendan P. Crighton, a Democrat who represents the Third Essex district. 

Meanwhile, my group’s meeting with Rep. Decker was very fruitful. As the chairperson of the Joint Committee on Public Health, Decker shared insights into how negotiations between legislators move bills through committee and onto the House floor. She also highlighted the role of student interns in successfully passing life-saving legislation and then agreed to cosponsor the Sunlight bill, one of the most debated proposals, which aims to increase committee voting transparency. 

Several NMH students reported success in lobbying for the Farm to School bill sponsored by Sen. Joanne M. Comerford, a Democrat representing the Hampshire, Franklin and Worcester District that includes the NMH campus. This bill aims to provide grants to improve student health and nutrition, helping build food literacy among elementary and secondary school students.

White five of the six bills were reintroduced from last year, they have made significant progress in the legislature and can hopefully be passed during this new session. However, not all students’ experiences were positive. Some legislators sidestepped the key topics, others offered detailed rebuttals against the bills, and a few were absent from their scheduled meeting without explanation.

Despite these challenges, the day was a powerful learning experience for many students. As they boarded the bus back to NMH at 5 pm, everyone was exhausted, but with a sense of accomplishment. They had stepped into the real world of youth advocacy, finding their voices in the democratic process.