Student Climate Advocacy In Action: From Classroom Stories to Civic Change

What if the secret to student engagement, student motivation, and inspiring students wasn't a new app or a new behavior system, but storytelling?

In Part 2 of my S5E37 @schoolutionspodcast conversation, Xochitl Bentley (author of Helping Students Become Climate Stewards) walks us through what climate stewardship projects look and feel like in real classrooms: from a Green Ambassador Grant field trip to TreePeople Eco Park in LA to a student-led postcard campaign to city representatives. These aren't assigned projects. They're sparked by genuine encounters with stewardship, and they ripple outward into the community.

You’ll learn:
✦ How to make the case for environmental justice education in any classroom
✦ The "read with the grain / read against the grain" strategy for counter-storytelling
✦ Flash fiction + news stories = student agency in climate narratives
✦ What a real climate stewardship project looks like, start to finish
✦ The 3 questions every student should carry with them for life

💫Make sure to watch Part 1 & check out some resources mentioned:
➡️Flash fiction technique borrowed from writer Kathy Fish: thinking like a mosaicist
➡️The Great Pacific Garbage Patch as a springboard for student flash fiction writing
➡️Louisiana's Cancer Alley as a case study for rhetorical strategies in ELA
➡️Field trip to TreePeople eco park in Los Angeles 

Chapters:
0:00 – Introduction & Part 1 Recap
1:45 – The "Read With / Against the Grain" Strategy
4:00 – Banking Student Questions as Visible Inquiry
5:30 – Flash Fiction + News Stories = Student Agency
8:00 – Making the Case for Environmental Justice in Any Classroom
10:30 – Environmental Hazards as Public Health Emergencies
11:30 – The Green Ambassador Grant Project
12:30 – TreePeople Eco Park Field Trip
14:30 – Student-Led Community Showcase & Postcard Campaign
15:45 – Defining "Climate Steward"
17:00 – The Three Questions for Future Ancestors
18:00 – Reading from the Book's Preface
19:30 – Olivia's 3 Big Takeaways
21:00 – Next Episode Preview

📧 Book a coaching session with me here if you’d like a thought partner to help you cultivate curious learners who advocate for what they believe in.
🎵 Music: Benjamin Wahl

Next Week: International educator and author Rachael Thrash is about to challenge everything you think you know about what student leadership looks like. She makes a compelling case in her new book, Let the Learners Lead, for why handing real power to students doesn't just change schools, it changes the world. 

When coaches, teachers, administrators, and families work hand in hand, it fosters a school atmosphere where everyone is inspired and every student is fully engaged in their learning journey.

Transcript

Olivia: [00:00:00] Welcome back for part two of my conversation with Xochitl Bentley. If you haven't listened to part one, pause right now, go back, and then come meet us here. In part two of my conversation with Xochitl Bentley, she moves from describing her storytelling stances to what they look like in action within classrooms. She shares how we can make the case for environmental justice education when it feels politically charged. She paints a picture of what real climate stewardship projects look and feel like in classrooms, and what her dreams are for students 20 years from now. Part two is where Xochitl helps us take theory into action.

This is Schoolutions, the podcast that extends education beyond the classroom, a show that isn't just theory, but practical, try-it-tomorrow approaches for educators and caregivers to ensure every student finds their spark [00:01:00] and receives the support they need to thrive. Welcome back, listeners. I hope you tuned in for part one of my conversation with Xochitl Bentley. If you have not, pause this episode, go back and listen, and then join us here. Uh, in part one, Xochitl, really, you broke down the beautiful stances that you offer in your book. I have it right here. I'll hold it up again. Here it is. Helping Students Become Climate Stewards. Um, I, I think that those stances offer such an opportunity for children to understand perspectives matter, their voices matter. And I left part one so excited to hit the ground running with all of the teachers that I have the privilege of coaching, and I thought, "I need a better flow. I need a better vision for how to do the storytelling work with children." So I was hoping you could start us off [00:02:00] with that in part two. 

Xochitl: So it's really important for me to begin whole class, and the reason that is, is that I'm deliberately modeling a strategy that helps students, um, engage in counter-storytelling, so thinking about what counter-story is. And so, um, it's not reinventing the wheel. It, it's something that I grew up thinking about as a teacher, but now using it in a really purposeful, strategic way, and that's that reading strategy of we read with the grain, and then we read against the grain. And this is really, really important to me because I think it is great when you're reading a story, fictional or not. Uh, you're reading with the grain, and you're thinking about, "What is this exploring? Why does this matter to either the author or the characters?" Uh, and, and, and thinking that way. But then there's that part two That I do need a model for students, which [00:03:00] is, okay, but what audience might they be taking for granted right now?

Or what voices are we not hearing from? Or, or whose voice is not at the table right now? And what challenges, uh, might we voice, or what contradictions might we recognize that exists in what's being explored or discussed here? And students having that modeled again and again over time, they internalize those moves themselves. So we might begin reading a story or a chapter or something in class. They continue with it, uh, at home next day, and they're starting to do that conversational labor for us. And that's, I think, so important. 

Olivia: And then so after you've read the story, and then they're doing that work independently, how do you bring them back around storytelling together?[00:04:00] 

Xochitl: Yeah. So I think it's really about voicing questions and banking questions in some sort of, like, visible or archival way. Um, so I love-- And it might be a big Post-It chart paper, it might be a Padlet, um, but I love tracking the questions they voice. Um, and I think with any story, um, it is a type of inquiry investigation, and that you're checking as the story progresses whether or not you're revising your first impressions or your assumptions. And I think making space for that but also capturing that in some sort of visual way is really, really important for students registering that my thinking about the story and, and my thinking about what counter-stories might be voiced, uh, you know, I can track this by continually referring to that initial bank of questions.

Olivia: Yeah. I can think [00:05:00] of how this is so powerful, too, when it comes to narratives around historical events, um, and how if we reframe instead of looking at history as a timeline, a linear timeline, looking at enduring issues or patterns in history and how they've continued, as you said, living with foresight. Living with, "Oh, this isn't new. This has happened before, so what are the different perspectives and voices?" Do you, for listeners that haven't had the privilege of reading your book, do you expect students to write stories out, or is it really that, uh, critical thinking literacy lens that they're using as readers and as they digest the different stories they're reading?

Xochitl: Yeah. So I love that question. Um, I love using uh, short news stories is sort of the, the springboard for their writing. 

Olivia: Okay. 

Xochitl: And [00:06:00] so this is a technique borrowed from, um, Flash Fiction, one of my favorite flash fiction writers, uh, Kathy Fish, where she says that to write flash fiction, so these micro stories, you have to think like a mosaicist. And what she means by that is you take these pieces that might be brightly different colored or, or very different in material, but you jam them together in some way. And so what I ask my students to do is take what you believe is a keyword from this news story and jam it together with this word I'm gonna give you.

Olivia: Oh, wow. 

Xochitl: Okay. And so an example would be we read, um, a National Geographic encyclopedic entry about, um, the Pac- the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Um, and I, I gave them the term ghost fishing, which is sort of that, uh, marine debris and what's left over. And I asked them, [00:07:00] "With that, I want you, uh, to use the word, um, jellyfish." And so I had students quickly cook up these little tales about how they went ghost fishing for their evening supper, and in fact, they encountered all this human debris in the ocean. And- Mm-hmm ... they were small, um, stories. They were simple, but they were memorable. 

Olivia: Yeah. 

Xochitl: And they were dealing with given materials from actual phenomenon that's happening in the world, uh, but recasting it in a r- in a fictional form that they were in charge of, and that gives them some agency in environmental storytelling.

Olivia: So then, Xochitl, how do you make the case for environmental justice education, and how do you weave it throughout the curriculum over the year? 

Xochitl: It's such a important question because I think, you know, we know that [00:08:00] environmental topics can often provoke knee-jerk reactions, uh, due to the, the, you know, political polarization that exists in this country. Uh, but I think what I do is I voice how, um, environmental stewardship is actually helping me achieve the goals that I would be trying to target in any ELA context. So what I mean by that is, um, I think the ability to self-advocate is, like, a critical life skill and survival skill. 

Olivia: Yes.

Xochitl: And so if we're studying, say, speech transcripts of people who live in- Louisiana's so-called Cancer Alley, where a lot of huge corporations, um, have toxic facilities, uh, that really contribute to high incidence of cancer rates and respiratory illness. When we're looking at those [00:09:00] transcripts, it's not just because we're thinking about environmental stewardship. We're seeing how these speakers protect their own life and defend their own life by using rhetorical strategies, uh, such as scare tactics or call to action or, you know, developing their ethos or cultivating their ethos with the use of well-placed statistics and, and putting a counterargument here. These are things I'd be talking about in any ELA context. Um, but we see them in this particular way. But also, um, the ideal- the idea that always understanding the audience that you are delivering a message to, and that's key. Uh- understanding the audience context is something I talk about in ELA classroom with any unit, with any group of students, uh, from grade six to 12.

And so I'm still doing the same skills, but specifically with environmental [00:10:00] justice. I will say that something that we don't underscore enough is that any environmental hazard is a public health emergency, and that we need to do our due diligence and make sure that we know to begin conversations with doctors, with health workers, with our community representatives about what mechanisms exist to keep my life healthy, to keep my loved ones safe, to keep our communities, uh, safe and invest in communal wellbeing. And I, I, I think those are just core themes that would exist in my classroom apart from the environmental or EJ focus, but are heightened with those in mind. 

Olivia: It also really sparks curiosity with our students. And so again, when I studied your work, I found this beautiful thread. So the environmental justice, the climate stewardship, that is really what can hook our kids to [00:11:00] caring and seeing that their voice matters. Again, it has gravity. And then what is a project that you've embarked upon with your students when it comes to climate stewardship? 

Xochitl: I love this question. Um, it makes me reminisce about a project I did in 2017, and it was my first real experience with-- I applied for a mini grant called a Green Ambassador Grant, and the goal with this grant was to find a way to sort of break down that classroom wall and have your students interface with the community with an environmental message. I'm like, "Wow, that's a great challenge." 

Olivia: It is. 

Xochitl: Um, but That's something that I talk about a little bit towards the beginning of the book about as an educator, I get tired of the artificiality of, of, of what often happens in classrooms. Like, I wanna have the stakes. I, I want them to have real audiences. And [00:12:00] so, um, what we did is we used that grant to take a field trip to a local eco park called TreePeople here in Los Angeles. And, uh, a large part of what TreePeople does is bring young people to their eco campus where they can see the varieties of ways in which you can engage in stewardship. That might be environmental education, that might be the nursery of native plants that they use in habitats they wanna restore.

Uh, and in this case, when my students came, uh, it was a guided tour where we learned about forest principles. So, um, that term, you know, biomimicry, like how do we look to nature for solutions. This was a very user-friendly approach to exploring that concept. And so we were guided around the campus, and they kept verbally signposting ways in which they tried to exist and work, uh, aligned with forest principles, such as, um, nature banks [00:13:00] on diversity. So if you look at the trees planted here, it's not just one type of tree, because if a tree gets a disease, that means that not all the trees would be wipe out here. And students were fascinated by th- by the idea of like- 

Olivia: Yeah 

Xochitl: “Wow, you're choosing what type of trees to plant next to each other in this really premeditated way, and it's so smart." Um, and there are other things they did too, such as the, the actual, uh, containers of the, the buildings themselves, uh, were recycled denim. So a forest principle is that nature recycles everything. 

Olivia: Yeah. 

Xochitl: Uh, so from the denim used in the wall insulation to just how leaves and things that fell on the ground were then turned into soil. Uh, and so e- with every move we made and everything we saw, they saw how TreePeople very intentionally designed this place to be a place where, uh, we lived aligned with nature, uh, [00:14:00] in this biometric way. And so my students went home with that knowledge, and they came back to class and they said, "We know what we're gonna do for our community showcase."

I'm like, "Well, tell me. I wanna know 'cause I've been thinking about it." And they're like, "We are going to invite our families and members of the community to school, and we're gonna ask them to engage in a postcard campaign." I'm like, "I love it. Tell me more." "We're gonna talk about forest principles, why they're important, and then why we need to send these postcards to our representatives to apply pressure on our representatives to provide funding and support for urban forestry."

And it was so beautiful because it wasn't about compliance or I just dropped this in your lap and you need to do it. It was completely inspired by what they saw, uh, happening in this [00:15:00] stewardship example. And I think that's what's so beautiful about environmental storytelling. There is always a potential for a multiplying effect, and that wh- that's why becoming a storyteller in the form of a community showcase, and now I invite you to fill out this postcard, uh, it creates that multiplying effect in a way that's really user-friendly.

Olivia: How do you define climate steward? 

Xochitl: Yeah. I, I get this question a lot. 

Olivia: I'm sure.

Xochitl: Um, yeah. I think in sort of a more traditional sense, we think of steward as someone who carefully manages the land. Um, in the sense I'm really intentionally trying to use right now is a steward, uh, is someone that can create communities of care through storytelling. And this idea of like taking care of the land and like translated to like communities [00:16:00] of care, I think is hugely important, particularly for now. Even as someone who's pretty active in environmental spaces outside the workplace, I often hunger for those third places or third spaces where I can just engage with others. And I think often we are isolated and siloed, uh, for a variety of reasons as modern people, and I'm hungry for that interaction. 

Olivia: Yeah. And I- our kids are too. They have been so used to escaping to their phone screens. They, our kids are dying for school to be a place that is different and fresh, and what a gift that you're willing to meet them there and to offer that opportunity. Um, one of my favorite aspects of the book was the way you speak to intergenerational awareness as well as that idea of reciproci- reciprocity that you were just speaking to. What is your dream 20 years down the road for s- our students that they will be doing based on [00:17:00] this work that you're embarking upon with them now?

Xochitl: Yeah. I, I want them to keep a set of questions in mind, which is, "Am I thinking and acting like a future ancestor? Um, do I try to live with an awareness of kinship relationship? Um, do I actively try to protect my loved ones and my community from environmental hazards that affect not just me personally, but everyone?" And I think kind of rotating and scrolling through those questions is hugely important, and that's what I hope for. 

Olivia: Yeah. I, I asked you, um, before we began if I could read from your book. The preface really touched my heart, and I, I go back to it often. The last paragraph, um, I- listeners, I want you to understand what this book is about, [00:18:00] what, why, um, Xochitl, you wrote this. Um, and you say, "This book is about the critical role storytelling plays in climate stewardship and how environmental problem-solving depends on civic action that offers counter-stories to our current unsustainable trajectory. The chapters are organized around a framework outlining practices for cultivating climate stewards that all hinge on storytelling, highlighting the skills of communicators, systems thinkers, scenario developers, environmental justice activists, and problem solvers." 

Yes, yes, yes. This book offers the action plan, the tools to make it happen across the world, and that is why I'm so grateful that you took the time to have this conversation. Thank you so much, Xochitl. 

Xochitl: Thank you. And, and thank you for creating that community of care that I was talking about with the work you [00:19:00] do.

Olivia: Yeah. I appreciate you, and I cannot wait for this conversation to come out in a month that is focused on centering the voices of communities, of our reciprocity with the environment and schools. So, um, just thank you. 

That is a wrap on part two, and this conversation is one I will carry with me for a long time. Xochitl gave us the language, the stances, the projects, and the vision to meet students exactly where they are and help them grow into the future ancestors our world needs. Three of my big takeaways from my conversation with Xochitl. First, facts alone don't move people, stories do. Xochitl pointed out that when her students were overwhelmed by climate data, that storytelling was the bridge between knowing and acting. It helped them wrap the difficult truths in narrative, and it gave them agency, not just anxiety. 

Second, the [00:20:00] six storytelling stances are a universal framework. Whether you teach ELA, science, or social studies, these lenses, from systemic responsiveness to collective mobilization; they give every educator an entry point into climate stewardship without needing to be an environmental expert. 

And third, a climate steward isn't just someone who protects the land. It's someone who builds communities of care through storytelling. The most powerful student projects aren't assigned. They're sparked by real encounters with real stewardship and they ripple outward. If this episode moved you, please leave a review. It is the simple best way to make sure more educators find their way here. And listeners, coming up on Schoolutions next week, if you think you know what student leadership looks like, international educator and author Rachael Thrash is about to challenge everything. She makes a [00:21:00] compelling case for why handing real power to students doesn't just change schools, it can change the world.

Schoolutions podcast is created, produced, and edited by me, Olivia Wahl. Thank you to my older son Benjamin, who created the music playing in the background. You can follow and listen to Schoolutions wherever you get your podcasts, or subscribe to never miss an episode and watch on YouTube. Thank you to my guest, Xochitl Bentley, for reminding us that stories don't just describe the world, they change it. When we hand students the tools of environmental storytelling, we cultivate communities of care, civic voice, and the foresight to act like future ancestors. 

Reach out to me at OliviaWahl.com to book a coaching session. I will be your thought partner to help you cultivate curious learners who advocate for what they believe in. Tune in every Monday and Friday for part one and part two of my guest conversations with the best [00:22:00] evidence-based, classroom-ready strategies that you can apply right away to better the lives of the children in your care. Your 60-second bite-sized piece of learning from our conversation will be waiting for you on Wednesdays to share. Take care, and thank you for forever getting better with me. See you next week.