Carbon Neutral Video Blitz!

1% for the Tetons is a local organization in Jackson that graciously funds projects in our community. Once a year they have a competition called a "Video Blitz" in which they choose projects that they have funded and they assign videographers to them, to make a short video summarizing their projects. This year however they changed their rules, and instead of giving videographers to all of their funded projects, they choose some funded projects and some "other" community projects that were not funded by 1% for the Tetons. 

Students for Sustainability was lucky enough to be chosen as one of the projects, and we were matched with a local video crew. Our focus topic was on our involvement with Jonathan Schechter's Carbon Neutral JH campaign. The rule of the competition is that after the filmers choose their project (they pulled names out of a hat) they only have one week to make their video. Sounds difficult right? Of course the first three days of this project is when five of our most active club members were in Pittsburgh, PA at the PowerShift conference. (To read all about our trip, check out the last post!)

SFS was paired with a company called WRKSHRT Digital who is a groups of guys from Jackson. They enjoy making short films on a wide variety of topics, and their style of filming ranges as well. Many of the men are graduates from Jackson Hole High School, so it was amazing to have them be paired with the only high school group. 

If you'd like to check out their other amazing videos, their vimeo is: http://vimeo.com/user7422795

The set up of the video blitz presentation is that an open audience comes to watch the seven films for the first time, after visiting all of their booths in the Center for the Arts lobby. Each person gets a voting ticket to vote for their favorite film. There are three different competition divisions, and a first, second and third place in each division. The first division is an audience vote - the video with the most voters in attendance wins. The second division is the judges vote - a panel of judges choosing their favorite video. The third - and likely the hardest to win - is the public vote. All seven videos were uploaded to the 1% for the Tetons website with a voting link under each, and to vote users must enter their name and email. Votes were capped so no one could vote multiple times a day. This competition was online for a full week and is calculated by percentage of total votes. In each division, first place received $750, second place got $500, and 3rd place received $250, all to go to the film crew.

"Over 250 people joined us at Jackson’s Center for the Arts to see the premieres of seven great short movies, each of which focused on a different project furthering the long-term sustainability of the Tetons region. The Video Blitz was, in the spirit of the Teton’s region, competitive and collaborative." - 1% for the Tetons website. 

Students for Sustainability was met with overwhelming support from the community, and we tied for 1st place in the public vote with 34% of total votes, as well as rounding up 2nd place in both the judges and the audience vote. 

All of the videos can be viewed at http://onepercentforthetetons.org/members/video-blitz-vote-2013.php

Our video specifically can be seen at http://vimeo.com/79923575

Here's a few snippits from our video: 

An animated explanation about how carbon credits work

An interview with club member Hailey

A shot at our airport, the main focus of the Carbon Neutral campaign

 Here are the results of the voting:

Judges Award:
1st Place: Gritty Entertainment & Hole Food Rescue
2nd Place: WRKSHRT Digital & Students for Sustainability
3rd Place: Jackson Adventure Video & Vertical Harvest

Audience Vote:
1st Place: Gritty Entertainment & Hole Food Rescue
2nd Place: WRKSHRT Digital & Students for Sustainability
3rd Place: Tower 3 Productions & Teton Valley Trails & Pathways

Online Vote: Tie!
1st Place: Tower 3 Productions & Teton Valley Trails & Pathways
1st Place: WRKSHRT Digital & Students for Sustainability
3rd Place: Gritty Entertainment & Hole Food Rescue

Powershift 2013!!

And we're home!

Powershift 2013 was a blast for everyone!
Club members Karli, Mackenzie, Anna, Sara, and Wilton went, along with kids from other local schools Peter, Fuller, Sydney and Madeline. Chaperones were Evan Huggins from IC21 and SFS Faculty Advisor Alan Brumsted.

POWERSHIFT DAY 1!

The PS13 crew met at the airport bright and early. First a short flight from Jackson to Denver, and then Denver to Pittsburgh. Luckily we were able to find a bit of homework time on the plane rides!

Above Club members Anna Karli and Sara getting some work done on the plane

The conference began right when we got there, and registration involved getting some nice ID lanyards along with personalized business cards to swap with others over the 3 day event.

Club member Sara showing off her ID badge

After registration came the opening plenary - or the keynote speakers for the first night. Some interesting speakers we saw included Josh Fox (director of Gasland Parts 1 and 2), Phillip Agnew (Executive Director of Dream Defenders), Michael Brune (Executive Director of the Sierra Club) and Ta'Kaiya Blaney, a 12 year old singer/spokes person from the Sliammon First Nation. 

David L. Lawrence Convention Center

Visit WeArePowerShift.org for more stories like ours!

POWERSHIFT DAY 2!!

The setup of Powershift was basically multiple 1-hour-long sessions with 15 minute passing periods in between, with an hour break for lunch and a break for dinner, followed by the plenary and then a concert. 

In session 1:

         Karli, Anna, Sara, Madeline, Sydney, and Mr. Brumsted went to a session called "Faces from the Frack Fields" where we learned about polluting methane, nitrogen oxides (NOx), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and much more from a panel of speakers who all live in major fracking areas. One of the speakers, Deb Thomas was even from Wyoming!

"My favorite session was one that ended up discussing broad-based sustainability initiatives and their importance. They also discussed creativity with sustainability and understanding that one topic might not always appeal to everyone. For example, you're not going to propose an anti fracking project to a family whose parents work in the fracking industry. You would be much more likely to make a difference understanding that fracking is their livelihood, and propose a composting or waste diversion program." -Club Member Mackenzie

         Peter, Fuller, and Evan went to a session called "Capitalism, Climate, and Injustice: Systemic Roots of Intersecting Crises"

         Mackenzie and Wilton went to a panel titled " You Are What You Eat, So What Are You?: A Discussion on Food Justice" all about communities access to food and food systems, and also on "what health and systemic problems are exacerbated and created by conventional farming methods, genetic engineering, and corporatization of agriculture".

 Here are the session descriptions from the Powershift agenda 

In session 2:

          Peter Fuller and Evan switched with the other group and went to "Faces From the Frack Fields"

          Karli, Anna, Sara and Madeline went to "Stories From Coal Country"

          Sydney and Mr. Brumsted went to the food discussion panel

          Mackenzie went to "Environmental Justice 101"

"I was moved by the issues of environmental and social injustice that I heard about in the workshops and keynote speeches. 

From the issues of uranium mining waste on Navajo lands in New Mexico and the pollution resulting from Tar sands development on the lands of indigenous peoples in Alberta, to the health issues in poor communities in Texas and California resulting from industrial pollution of air and water, it is clear that companies with money and power think very little of people with neither." 

- Alan Brumsted

In session 3: The entire Jackson group went to the showing of Gasland Part 2 by Josh Fox. 

Watch the GasLand part 2 official trailer at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzx7UXzK_z4 

After a break for lunch at the food court, sessions started right back up again. 

Session 4: High School Breakout Groups

           There was a full session for all high schoolers attending Powershift to meet and discus their projects and successes, also breaking into smaller groups within the high schoolers to speak about leadership with in their club, composting, and much more. 

           In on part of the high school break out groups, we were separated into groups with other kids from around the country, and were doing interactive activities such as having half the group pose to represent those in America who are ignorant corporate leaders or silent bystanders.

Madeline -Photo credit to IC21

Club members Karli and Sara - Photo credit to IC21

Peter - Photo credit to IC21

"PowerShift was an amazing experience. It was great to be able to choose what to learn about, and to see how many different things there are to do out in the world when people work together." 

- Anna

Session 5:

           Fuller, Peter and Evan went to "Rebel Economists in a Warming World: Unlearning Econ 101"

           Karli, Sara, Anna and Madeline went to "The Dirty Side of Green Consumerism"

           

After a long day, it was a nice break for everyone to get to walk around the city a bit to find a place for dinner.

Photo Credit IC21

Photo credit IC21

Day 2 Plenary (Keynote Speakers)

-Josh Fox (Director of GASLAND) "Movies don't change the world. Canvassing and organizing does. #banfracking"

POWERSHIFT DAY 3!!!

Session Block 6

         

Karli and Sara went to "Confronting climate deniers and other bad guys" 

Everyone else attended "What kind of leader are you?: Understanding your leadership style, strengths, and challenges.

"It was really interesting to learn about the challenges in the present, and in the future, and to gain an understanding of new ways to deal with these problems. PowerShift was an experience to remember and I would definitely go again." -Sydney

State Breakouts:

         State breakouts were for the purpose of different groups from each state having a time to work together on legislation that affects their state particularly. Because many states were underrepresented, Wyoming (us and 1 woman from Cody) ended up conjoining with Montana, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, and West Virginia. 

Sara and Karli representing Wyoming

Peter and Fuller representing Wyoming

"Powershift showed me that all acts of activism are connected, if one is fighting for social, economic, gender, racial, or any justice, one is fighting for environmental justice." - Fuller

Day 3 Closing Plenary -

A presentation on ending the KXL pipeline

Closing Speakers - Photo Credit to IC21

Closing Speakers - Photo credit to IC21

 POWERSHIFT DAY 4!!!!

Monday was the last day, but still full of fun! Our group split in two, some going to visit the Carnegie Science Center and most to participate in the PowerShift Protest!

Mr. Brumsted learning what a fish sees through their eyes

Karli, Anna and Wilton playing with some no-gravity experiments

 Why protest? "We are at a crossroads" says the PowerShift agenda. "Across the country we're seeing clean energy transform communities, creating clean, local sources of energy that create jobs. But simultaneously big polluters like Big Oil, Gas, and Coal are rushing new fossil fuel development that is threatening communities, workers and our families."

"Join with people from communities across the country to demand a just and sustainable future." -PowerShift Agenda

Kids with a Wyoming Representative - Photo Credit to IC21

"Power Shift" - Photo credit to Sydney

"Fund Solutions Not Pollution" - Photo credit to Sydney

Protesters - Photo Credit to Sydney

And we were on our way home, sleepy from all of the excitement. 

Here are some various photos from the trip:

The view from the Convention Center 

Club Members Anna, Sara and Karli

Club Member Sara

Photo Credit IC21

Photo Credit IC21

Club members Anna, Sara and Karli rocking their PowerShift T-Shirts

Photo Credit to Sara 

Photo Credit to Anna

The cloudy view from the convention deck - Credit to Peter

Club Members Sara and Anna

Photo credit to Sara

Thank you to InterConnections 21, Teton County School District #1,  and to our generous donors for supporting our amazing experience. 

#PowerShift2013

Sara mid-protest - Photo credit to Sydney

Update!

The school year has begun! With this comes the usual course loads and extra time commitment of all the students, but also some eager new freshman excited to joing the SFS team.

As for our summer projects:

Powershift 2013:
       We are still fundraising for powershift. There are now 9 students traveling to the conference, 6 of whom are SFS members. The other 3 are not with Jackson Hole High School. We are selling raffle tickets and recieving personal donations. The fundraising has now become an "action item" for the Teton County School Board, for which I am a student representative. In the past the board has been incredibly supportive of the actions of our club.

Water bottle project:
       Fundraising for the water bottle fillers is now underway, the local forest service is gathering funding information at this time. The process is slow, but hopefully the fillers will be installed soon.

Up and coming projects:
   
      Carbon Neutral JH:
             A post with greater detail about this project will be posted soon, but the general overview is that the local airport is the only airport in a national park, and SFS is partnering with Jonathan Schechter in order to accumulate signatures which he will present to the town council and county commision in order to turn the airport carbon neutral. If you would like to see Jonathan's article in the newspaper that mentions this project, check it out here!
                   http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/article.php?ctg=9&csfd=1

Powershift 2013!

One current project SFS is working on over the summer is fundraising for PowerShift 2013. Powershift is the largest youth-led conference on sustainability in the nation. It's in Pittsburgh from the 18th of October to the 20th.

We are planning to send 5 students and 1 chaperone to this conference. This involves raising money for plane tickets, hotel rooms, admission fees, etc. We have received a $1,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole, $500 from the Rotary Club of Jackson Hole, and are being paid $500 from the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole in return for assisting them in maintaining sustainability certification for the Old Bills Fun Run (That will be another post!).

Besides grants, we have been getting donations from local businesses and are hosting a raffle!

Prizes include:
 - A giant stuffed penguin from Teton Toys
 - A "Jackson Hole" sweater from Lee's Tees
 - Dinner for 2 at BettyRock
 - A $30 gift certificate to Bon Appe Thai
 - Dinner for 2 at the Bunnery
 - Lunch for 2 at the Silver Dollar Grill
 - 1 photo for up to 5 people at Old Time Photos
 - A $50 gift certificate to any restaurant in the Fine Dining Group
 - A $50 gift certificate to either Local or Trio
 - 2 bags of Jackson coffee from Cowboy Coffee

(If you would like to buy a raffle ticket - contact Karli at KarSwe@student.tcsd.org)

We have also been looking for the support of "sponsors", or people who fund a specific part of the trip. For example, one person gave us $200 to fund a hotel room for 2 nights!

Though there is a long way to go - hopefully we will be able to reach our goal!

If you want to check out PowerShift 2013 - http://www.wearepowershift.org/about

Water Bottle Filling Stations

SFS has been in the process of installing automatic water bottle filler stations in our school.

These water bottle stations are so cool! Not only do they quickly fill up your water bottle with cold, filtered water, but they have a panel on the top that shows you how many plastic water bottles you are saving by using a reusable bottle!

The fillers look like this:

We are putting these in at 6 of the 7 water fountains in Jackson Hole High School. 

Though these stations can be expensive, our goal seems to be accomplishable. We are applying for a grant through the Forest Service, who has funding for our club. Earlier in the year we did a project called "Green Schools" which basically taught our club how to monitor use in our school. This project is how we were connected with the Forest Service. The money we receive from them will cover about half of the total cost, and we will be working with JHHS principle Scott Crisp in order to fund the second half of the project. 

Be on the lookout for updates about this project! We are hoping to have these installed by the end of 2013. 

-Karli 

Picture credit: http://prairiestate.edu/sustainability/initiatives.html

Coalition Wild: Final Video!

Hello all! After lots of hard work, the final video has been turned in to the coalition wild contest! (About 10 minutes before the deadline, might I add.) If you would like to watch the video, check out our youtube!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYccv86vydE&feature=youtu.be

Thank you for all of your support, and special thanks to the Jackson Hole Recycling Center, Energy Conservation Works, the Town of Jackson, and Jackson Hole High School.

-Karli

Coalition Wild: Editing!

After hours and hours of setting up, filming, laying out clip ideas, writing segments and questions, uploading, downloading, importing, exporting, etc., we are finally into the editing stage of the video! 

The editing is taking much longer than we had expected, but we are still making steady progress. 

To date we are about 3 minutes in, which  is only about 1/5 of the way though the video we have. After this, we are finishing with the transitions, titles, music, relevancy and more. 

With only 2 more days until we need to upload the video, club members are definitely feeling the pressure. We know that this project will be amazing once it is finished, and worth the late hours of work.

Editing screen - making progress! 

Coalition Wild: Planning and Development

The video process is underway! 

We have high hopes for our video, from creating and finishing the video all before July 1st, to filming interviews with local superstars such as Jackson Mayor Mark Barron, Jackson Hole Energy Sustainability Project Executive Director Shelly Simonton, the Education and Outreach Coordinator at the Recycling Center, and many more. 

If you haven't heard about SFS's video entry, check out the 'Coalition Wild: Video Contest!' Entry.

Filming is now underway, and it looks as if we're getting the hang of it! Thankfully we do have the experienced club members helping with video production. 

Mac Dukart, Education and Outreach Coordinator at the Jackson Hole Recycling Center

SFS members Elsa and Carson, setting up video equipment for interviews 

SFS President Mackenzie 

An interview with SFS member Carson

SFS Co-Vice President Elsa 

Check out the Coalition Wild website and Facebook!

Www.coalitionWILD.org

Www.facebook.com/coalitionwild

- Karli