Sustainability at PS 102
PS 102 is committed to the Office of Sustainability's mission to make New York City Public Schools more sustainable. For years, PS 102 has been a leader in promoting access to school gardens and outdoor learning with its extraordinary school garden. PS 102 is now working with support from the Office of Sustainability to reduce energy use in the school building in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well as to reduce and manage waste, and most importantly, to promote student learning and leadership in caring for the environment.
Climate Action Days
For this first time ever, throughout the 2023-24 schoolyear, NYC Public Schools are launching 4 themed Climate Action days to promote student learning and empowerment around climate action. PS 102 is participating in each day with school-wide student-led actions and events. Check back here or at NYC Public Schools Office of Sustainability for more information.
Climate Action Day 1: Energy
Students at P.S. 102 played an important role in preparing for and participating in NYC Public Schools' first ever Climate Action Day on December 6th, 2023. Because the theme for CAD 1 was energy, students participated in lessons on conserving energy. Students brainstormed ways they could raise awareness about our plan to turn lights off on our first Climate Action Day, and then worked hard to make beautiful posters for the school hallways. Two students made morning announcements on the day of the event to encourage participation. Many classes participated in turning lights off and letting the sunshine in. Because of hard student' work, P.S. 102 was ready to conserve energy on our Climate Action Day!
Students Made Posters to Raise Awareness
Lucas Benson 2-324 and Mehmet Ural 2-315 Made Morning Announcements
Students Turned Lights Off
Lights Off
Climate Action Day 2: Waste
Students at P.S. 102 participated in Climate Action Day 2, on February 7th, by learning why it important to make less waste. To participate in this city-wide event, P.S. 102 expanded its already existing waste reducing actions including plastic free lunches and waste sorting stations including curbside composting. A Green Team of student Cafeteria Rangers now works every lunch to support younger students in throwing their trash away in the cafeteria correctly.
PS 102 has plastic free lunches every 3 weeks. Check your calendars!
PS 102's Cafeteria Ranger Program
P.S. 102's awesome Cafeteria Rangers are students who have volunteered to join our Green Team and help us make less waste in the cafeteria. More than 60 dedicated students lead all the students in the cafeteria in using the waste sorting stations correctly. Every lunch period, Rangers help remind students to throw items in the proper bins, which helps us recycle more, compost, and send less waste to landfills. We so appreciate the hard work of our rangers!
PS 102's Cafeteria Waste Sorting Station
Climate Action Day 3: Health, Wellness and Green Spaces
Students in all STEAM classes learned about green spaces, what they are and why we need them. We learned there are many kinds of green spaces and we need them to lower neighborhood temperatures, absorb rain water, improve air quality, and provide places where we can get exercise and feel good. Students solved the problem that some neighborhoods do not have enough green spaces by planning and building their own green spaces. We have many future urban engineers! On April 17th, classes were invited into our amazing school garden to learn about and practice mindfulness techniques including yoga and breathwork. We are so grateful for our green space!
Mindfulness in the Garden
Kindergarten Green Space Plans
Green Space Builds
Upcoming Climate Action Day 4: June 12 Water
Students in all STEAM classes are preparing for the next Climate Action Day all about water by learning ways we can save our precious drinking water and why that is important. Students will be creating posters for the school building to raise awareness and inform everyone about the importance of an how to conserve water.
Get Involved
If you have any questions or would like to get involved, please reach out to PS 102's Sustainability Coordinator, Ms. Stepto, at cstepto@schools.nyc.gov.
And for more information on Sustainability in the classroom check out our STEAM K-2 and STEAM education pages as well as our PS 102 Garden page.
Looking forward to being in touch!