One Earth, Many Solutions

On Sunday, April 16, the Global Issues Network (GIN) Flex hosted its first local Earth Day Conference on campus. Students and faculty from the LJCDS Middle and Upper Schools invited the Preuss School to join them in presenting their efforts toward making their school and city more environmentally friendly. 

More than 50 members of LJCDS, Preuss and the larger San Diego community listened to keynote speakers Dr. Serge Dedina from Wildcoast.org and Rowdy Keelor from the Factory Farming Awareness Coalition. In addition, attendees participated in a gardening and composting workshop with Middle School Science Educator Ms. Fieberg and interacted with 16 student and teacher poster presentations on topics ranging from the environmental impact of electric cars to the harmfulness of fast fashion and reducing the consumer footprint. 

GIN is a student-led Flex guided by Upper School Educators Dr. Amy Parish and Dr. Marianne Zupanc, which encourages students to collaborate locally, regionally and globally to create project-based solutions to address the 17 UN sustainability goals. This year, GIN members chose to focus on addressing two main topics, one of which is the environment and sustainability. “Since we are so close to the ocean and beaches and can see the direct effects of pollution, we thought it might be a good idea to do something to help our local environment,” shared Vicky Chen ’26. In addition, a river cleanup activity with the San Diego River Foundation inspired students to do more for their community and organize the Earth Day Conference. GIN students also took inspiration from the international Luxembourg-based GIN conferences they’ve attended each year to plan their conference.

After the conference, students received positive feedback: “Seeing the amazing work that others have done makes me feel like one person can make a not-so-small difference in this world.” Upper School Science Educator Dr. Renna Wolfe reflects, “Truly there was a magic to the day, which perhaps is bound to happen when there is a gathering of individuals of varying stages, domains and walks of life all toiling towards the common and lofty goal of preserving this beautiful space rock we call home and improving the quality of life for its inhabitants.”

The conference was a success – one that touched the hearts of so many people and encouraged hope for a better and more sustainable future. The LJCDS GIN group’s goal is to continue to grow the club and tackle important issues in our community and world.