Earth Day | Earth Month

By Stephanie Jouflas
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​Did you know that the Ute Tribe of Ute Mountain is building an eight mile long solar power farm? Or that California's power grid successfully ran entirely on wind, water, and solar power for two consecutive days this February? Renewable energy technology is becoming more efficient, widespread, and widely adopted worldwide. This Earth Month, I am centering resilience and hope, and I invite all of you to join me! Earth Month is sometimes hard for me; it is not easy keeping faith with so much negative news of harm being done to our planet and our communities as climate change progresses. We know that the big picture is indeed very big, and will take cooperation at all levels to bring meaningful change.
 
However, we have to remember that the small things we do-- not just this month, but in our daily lives-- matters exponentially. Tiny seeds grow into vast forests, and children who are shown that the world is a beautiful place to be loved and protected grow up to be fierce lovers and protectors of that world. If we can make a home, a campus, a community, or a city, a nurturing place to grow and witness what Maria Montessori termed the cosmic vision (a universe in which every small thing affects and is affected by every other small thing), then our children will grow up feeling both important and powerful, and also deeply connected to others. Taking time to show real care to the planet and involving your child in concrete work in nature is how we can help shape the child to show love, hope, compassion, and inner peace which will make a difference for our planet.
 
Take some time this April to look for the good news around you, and then go out and make some good news! Let's surround today's children with beauty, opportunity, and, most of all, hope. It will not leave them, and they will return it back to the environment tenfold.
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Stephanie is an Assistant Teacher and Aftercare Supervisor in Nootka Rose. You may reach her by emailing [email protected] with the subject line 'attn: Stephanie Jouflas