Empowering Youth to Take Action for Climate Solutions
Summer brings soaring temperatures, and with the new school year around the corner, now is the perfect time to launch your school’s summer climate initiative to prepare for the months ahead. What better way to bolster community outreach and boost ongoing efforts than to promote climate solutions through a commitment to climate and health education? This Climate and Health Youth Education Toolkit provides a pathway for community partners to engage with schools, camps, and more to educate and empower high school students about the health impacts of climate change and steps to advocate for climate justice.
The Toolkit, developed by the American Public Health Association’s (APHA) Children’s Environmental Health (CEH) Committee, is anchored by a 100-minute lesson plan on climate change and human health for high school students. The lesson includes important topics, such as air quality impacts, extreme events, vector-borne diseases, water-related illness, food safety, mental health, populations of concern, and more. This lesson is customizable and adaptable for many reading levels, spaces, and structure in an effort to captivate whole groups of students. Educating students by using the Climate and Health Education Toolkit is a powerful way for Climate and Health Ambassadors to fulfill their commitment to engage local communities.
The toolkit includes supplemental lesson materials, like a teacher’s Slide Deck, Next Generation Science Standards Alignment, Relay Race Activity, School Outreach Email Template, Social Media Toolkit, Health Professional Recruitment Flyer, Youth Take Action! Flyer, and handouts for students.
The climate crisis of the 21st century is creating floods, wildfires, vector-borne diseases, and other extreme weather events that profoundly impact the physical and mental health of vulnerable populations, such as children and communities of color.
This summer, share the APHA CEH Committee Climate and Health Youth Education Toolkit and resources with your school educators and administrators. In addition, check out these resources from ecoAmerica (also available via CEH Committee webpage): ecoAmerica guide for parents and caregivers on building climate resilience, and the EcoAmerica Mental Health and Climate Change Children and Youth Report, which can help all members of the community to work together to address the impact of climate change on youth mental health and well-being.
Youth are naturally resilient and with the right tools, can become much needed transformational change agents. Through the Climate and Health Youth Education Toolkit, community partners can collaborate with high schools to integrate lessons of hope alongside climate action strategies, and more importantly, help inspire youth to become the catalyst for change they want to -see and be- in their community.
Click here to get started and empower youth to take action with climate solutions!
About the Author
Dr. Callins is a member of the Children’s Environmental Health (CEH) Committee. She is an obstetrician/gynecologist with Community Health Care Systems, Inc. in Middle Georgia and Professor at Mercer University School of Medicine; a 2025 Climate and Health Equity Fellow with the Medical Society Consortium for Climate and Health and the National Medical Association.
Additional Resources
Watch the American Climate Leadership Awards 2025
Mental Health and Our Changing Climate: Children and Youth Report 2023