Massachussetts Teachers Association (MTA) members are gearing up to support the student-led Global Climate Strike on Sept. 20, following an Aug. 4 vote by the MTA Board of Directors to “encourage participation in the climate strike and commend the young people around the globe who are taking leadership on this critical issue.” The vote followed a presentation to the Board by students involved in the Sunrise Movement.

“I’ve come to this work out of a deep concern for what’s happening now with the climate,” Somerville literacy coach Alex Hershey said during a Sept. 5 Tele-Town Hall on the MTA’s role in the action. “I am concerned about what my children and my students will face in the future. One thing that’s particularly powerful and unique is that the youth are taking the lead.”

“I’ve come to this work out of a deep concern for what’s happening now with the climate,”

Somerville Literacy Coach Alex Hershey

Concerns about the climate have been reinforced this month by images of communities in the Bahamas that were flattened by Hurricane Dorian and an escalating cycle of news stories about unprecedented heat waves, wild weather, droughts and refugee crises — all created or exacerbated by human-caused climate change.

For additional information, including events and educator resources, visit the MTA's Youth Climate Strike initiative page.