Book ending the school year at Austin High School

Hart and I were glad to be back at Austin HS today, where we began the 2015/16 school year. Student participation was great from start to finish!  We always appreciate students' interest and curiosity about the issues raised in our materials, and the t-shirt challenge drew thoughtful responses across the board.  Here are the questions we asked today:

 Here are the student responses to the question, "What are some of the environmental costs of war?"

Pollution
Less farm land and livestock
Over use of resources that make us in debt to other countries
Mass destruction of land
Broken families
Debt to other places
Left behind land mines
Destruction of many animals' habitats
Military travel in cars with produce
Land being destroyed
Lack of funding to environmental issues/no cooperation on huge issues like housing
Destruction of vegetation with chemicals (e.g. napalm and Agent Orange to kill vegetation during the Vietnam War)
Deforestation
Debris from buildings
Pollution
Mass toxication of water sources and other vital animal resources

Penny Poll results showed 32% of the penny vote for Education, 23% for Health Care, 19% for the Military, 15% for the Environment and 11% for Humanitarian Aid.

Once again, if high school students could decide how our country's resources were spent, we might have a healthier, college-educated (without huge debt)  population.

Thanks, Maroons, for making us welcome!