“Kids love things like SimCity and Minecraft and all of these opportunities, but they never think about you can actually get a career out of it. You can actually build your own town or city, not just in Minecraft but actually in real life. ”

“We teach social-emotional skills, so that includes things like “lightning lingo,” which is positive language, conflict-resolution skills, teamwork... We use play to teach those skills.”

“Growing up in Milwaukee, too, I felt like it has been such a great place. We’re right by one of the biggest areas of freshwater. Why can’t we do something positive to help protect and sustain it?”

“At DNR, we see flooding and resiliency as some of the front lines of climate change. And we’re very invested in that. And the bioswales and the stormwater treatment that’s happening at each kid’s school ground is a step towards recognizing that and building resiliency across the state.”

“I learned more about nature than I did before. I learned different people and different jobs. I never knew there was such thing as an engineer that works on bioswales. I never really knew bioswales existed until the internship.”

“Last year, as a Learn Deep Fellow, the middle school science teachers and myself, we worked on water—clean water. We were able to provide so many opportunities, partner up with the local community partners and take field trips and go and learn about the water in our community.”

“The idea in here is actually taking students to the greenhouses, for example, to test water, test soil, air quality even using their projects. Getting data, analyze, and share with the rest of the community. (students can create their own sensors for soil moisture, connecting engineering prototyping and coding)”

“We work as much as we can within the systems that [an organization] has. We’re not here to sell purchasing systems. The biggest challenge that we find with some school systems—not with all school systems but some school systems—where the philosophy is, you get X amount of money, and if you don’t spend it next year your budget is going to be less. That system encourages waste. It encourages schools to spend money on stuff they don’t need, stockpile it, sits in a room, gets forgotten about, whatever. But they’re just spending every dime they can in order to make sure they don’t have money cut from their budget.”

“[My Mom is] a real good inspiration, too. She really motivated me. She pushed me to do more for my city and give back. I really appreciate her.”

“Primarily we wanted to expose teachers to our climate justice curriculum and our new climate justice coach. I also wanted to get our teachers more heavily involved in planning science curriculum with us and participating in our district STEM Fair.”

“MMSD wants to invest in our community. We want to help protect Lake Michigan, and we want to get our next generation to be environmental stewards and that’s what we’re doing through schools.”

“Right now we are offering three different tracks in our internships, which focus on healthy minds, healthy bank accounts, and also food justice.”

“We are all here because of Lisa [Neeb, Green & Healthy Schools Program Manager]. We had a 50% increase in the past two weeks, which is huge. A huge thanks to Lisa for making that happen.”

“Reflo’s a fantastic partner. They’ve supported our mission, and I think we’re aligned in engaging children and green spaces. Our focus is primarily indoor, and I think that the projects that Reflo’s doing as far as the schoolyard redevelopments give kids a nice transition from indoor to outdoor and green experiences all year round.”

“I am a parent volunteer. My children went to Milwaukee German Immersion School and while I was there I noticed the kids just played on asphalt. I’m a landscape designer by trade and that made me want to do something.”

“Most of our water events and activities take place somewhere on the Milwaukee River, from Newburg all the way down to downtown.”

“We are the nonprofit wing and partner to the Milwaukee County Zoo. We provide the education programs at the zoo.”

“In a world that cries out for our help, it is our obligation to hear its cry. Organizations such as Reflo, and all those present today, are all those at the forefront of this call. ”

“My goal is so they fall in love with the waters of Milwaukee. We are so lucky to live here, especially now in this era of drought. I fear that people with big straws from the West are going to be coming to our doorstop and wanting our waters. We have to protect it. I’m happy more than ever to share this message with students and teachers.”

“It is truly a playground revolution. If you think of all the plastic and steel you typically see, that’s not what we’re doing. We’re much more of a ropes-course-type layout. We’re using black locust primarily as our building material, and we incorporate rocks and other netform to really transform the way play spaces are used.”

“I didn’t find my love for the environment until I got to college. I really look back on it and it was in my face the whole time but I never had someone to point me in that direction. I find it very rewarding. It just brings me joy to do that with kids. Give them a perspective they wouldn’t otherwise have if someone else wasn’t throwing that in their face, and then letting them put the pieces together themselves.”

“This [conference] is a place where you have a range of community partners from higher ed, industry, nonprofits who want to do interesting things with schools and you’ve got a whole bunch of teachers walking around who want to do interesting things with them. We need more of these connection opportunities. Exciting stuff.”

“Reset. Restart. Refocus. As many times as you need. Just don’t quit. ”

“Yay! I get to do something local!”

“We wanted to participate [in the conference] because it’s a great opportunity to share all the initiatives that we’re involved in with renewable energy and energy education and solar-on-school installations. [...] There’s so many opportunities. In terms of my background in education and helping young people find their way in a career path, this is where it’s at. The things they’re doing in the future right now with renewable energy is just incredible. And to have that door open as a pathway for young people looking for what to do with their lives is just essential.”

“We have 2,700 trees planted in our forest. We have an orchard, arboretum, and we also have bioswales and a cistern to help further our efforts in becoming a better, greener, healthier school.”