This is a guest post by Las Vegas Educator Vernard Williams. 

This May, twenty-seven students from five different schools volunteered their Saturday to learn about sustainability at Western High School in Las Vegas. The training was a hit! The youth exclaimed that they would gladly give up another off-day to do it again. This event was a collaborative training run by the Alliance for Climate Education (ACE) and Nevada WorkForceConnections.

The training began with a classroom session where students learned about carbon footprint, energy conservation, and Nevadaʼs primary sources of energy consumption. Afterward, youth separated into interactive workshops designed to advance both their skill-set and knowledge base. Students learned Marshall Ganzʼs principals of storytelling, where they discovered how to connect their personal experiences with the environment to inspire others, and they experienced WorkForceConnectionsʼ green mobile classroom, where they gained a hands on feel of how energy works in a household.

The collaborative training showed the power of partnerships. ACE motivated students to attend by delivering its award winning climate science presentation inspiring and educating youth about sustainability. “ACE made me interested… ACE made it click,” said Rachel Stewart, Rancho HS junior. Meanwhile, WorkForceConnections captivated youth with its green mobile classroom. “The best part of the experience was working on the interactive truck…I would love to come back again,” said Solomon Leatherwood, Rancho HS sophomore.

The Alliance for Climate Education and Nevada WorkForceConnections plan to offer multiple student trainings in the 2012-2013 school year as part of their commitment to Clark County students in Las Vegas and surrounding cities.