The Climate Action Pathways for Schools (CAPS) program provides students with the resources to reclaim their futures from the threat of climate change while also introducing them to green career opportunities through paid internships and work-based learning programs.

For young people, planning for the future always entails the looming uncertainty brought on by climate change. Faced with the most to lose, students also stand with the most to gain from taking action for climate justice. For young people, charting their futures requires a livable planet sustained by a generation that understands the consequences of inaction.

Empowering student leaders is the most critical component of the CAPS program. Our goal is to help students earn on-the-ground experience to prepare them for future educational and career opportunities while also making strides in cultivating meaningful action on climate change.

HOW WE WORK WITH STUDENTS

CAPS STUDENT VOICES

My involvement with CAPS and our work in studying these environmental issues helped me become more proactive and informed about the changes happening in our environment due to climate change. It provided me with a platform to implement positive changes and work toward a better future.

~ Ariana, Former CAPS Intern

Since joining CAPS, I’ve learned that green careers are critical to addressing climate change. It was important for me to realize how involved we all need to be in making our future more sustainable.

~ Victor, Former CAPS Intern

PROJECT AREAS

The CAPS program facilitates student-led projects at the school-district level, designed in close collaboration with the relevant district and school departments, in the following areas:

TRANSPORTATION

BUILDINGS DECARBONIZATION

WATER CONSERVATION

ZERO WASTE

SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEMS

Lead school conservation competitions.

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Track monthly energy usage using utilities data and solar monitoring software.

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Help students' nutrition services procure local and climate-friendly food.

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Lead school conservation competitions. 〰️ Track monthly energy usage using utilities data and solar monitoring software. 〰️ Help students' nutrition services procure local and climate-friendly food. 〰️

Create marketing tools to promote the climate action program.

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Develop active transportation routes to schools.

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Create marketing tools to promote the climate action program. 〰️ Develop active transportation routes to schools. 〰️

Support the development of the climate action plan.

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Conduct ASHRAE-level 1 audits.

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Lead school conservation competitions.

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Support the development of the climate action plan. 〰️ Conduct ASHRAE-level 1 audits. 〰️ Lead school conservation competitions. 〰️

STUDENT OUTCOMES

Students report gaining a range of valuable, applicable skills through their work in the CAPS program. Below, learn more about the categories of skills they develop, and hear about the impact of this work in students’ own words.

  • Student Leadership

    Students take the lead on outlining their district’s climate action plan to implement practical steps that help lower greenhouse gas emissions, conserve energy, reduce waste, and create greener campuses. CAPS participants are hired on as paid interns to help see their projects through at the beginning of their Sophomore year. These project-based learning programs provide professional training and hands-on experience with problem-solving, data processing, analytics, and presentation skills through climate-related sustainability projects.

  • “I really liked improving my presentation skills. It’s a skill you use quite often, whether in school or in other situations, so it’s nice to get more experience with that. The pointers that came out of it were really helpful.”

    ~ Student Participant

  • Complementing Career Pathways

    The CAPS program is designed to integrate with student learning by showing how classroom concepts can apply to real-world solutions to climate change. By applying their education to hands-on solutions that they can achieve, students can develop increased engagement in their school work and begin to explore potential career paths through impactful projects. The rapid growth of green career opportunities helps illustrate the tangibility of project-based learning for students and introduces them to a meaningful way they can reclaim control of their climate future.

  • “I’m more of a hands-on person, and so I really enjoyed figuring out the energy audits… Diving in deeper into those calculations really gave me insight into how bad pollution really is… it was like a big light bulb just lit up and I was like ‘oh my god, I didn’t know that before’.”

    ~ Student Participant

  • College & Career Coaching

    Students in the CAPS program gain valuable, on-the-ground experience in the rapidly growing and lucrative clean technology career pathway through career panels, career fairs, and connecting students to professionals in green sector careers. In 2019, California saw over 500,000 people working in clean energy industries, compared with 110,000 fossil fuel jobs combined.

  • “The program greatly influenced my studies — I’m now looking at colleges that have good engineering programs and environmental studies…and then maybe law school afterward, but I think the work I did [with CAPS] will influence my career.”

    ~ Student Participant

Are you a student interested in getting your school involved in CAPS? Email us to connect CAPS leadership to your school.

STORIES FROM CAPS

Stories
Empowering Tomorrow’s Green Leaders: CAPS Program Manager Oversees Student-Guided Sustainability Projects in Petaluma and Modesto Schools
Empowering Tomorrow’s Green Leaders: CAPS Program Manager Oversees Student-Guided Sustainability Projects in Petaluma and Modesto Schools

With student-guided projects focused on energy use, waste management, and air quality, CAPS is partnering with Modesto City Schools and Petaluma City Schools to create a more sustainable future. To support this work, CAPS recently added Juli Miller to the team as the Program Manager for Northern California school districts.

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Expanding Youth Engagement in Sustainability: A Q&A With CAPS Alumnx Board Members Taylor Simonich and Raymond Wang
Expanding Youth Engagement in Sustainability: A Q&A With CAPS Alumnx Board Members Taylor Simonich and Raymond Wang

CAPS has welcomed its first-ever Alumnx Board Members, who will help bring student voices to CAPS’s leadership. In this Q&A, former interns Raymond Wang and Taylor Simonich share their insights on how they envision working with other Board Members to amplify CAPS’s mission, their goals for expanding the program’s reach, and their advice for current CAPS interns aspiring to leadership roles.

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California rolls out career path grants to schools – nearly a year late
California rolls out career path grants to schools – nearly a year late
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