When ACE began nearly three years ago, we knew we wanted to give students the knowledge, the tools, the confidence and the power to address the threat of global warming — not just in some distant future, but right now. This might be the biggest challenge in their lifetime and they deserve the science and the skills to take charge.

We ask a lot of ACE students. The assembly may be entertaining, but it’s jammed full of chemistry, earth science and other facts competing for their attention and time. The actions may start easy, everyone can Do One Thing, but they still require action. Joining an Action Team may be fun and provide access to free ACE Leadership Training, but it also takes organization skills, project management, collaboration and time in a world that increasingly competes for every minute of their time and attention. To be the team’s ACE Ambassador? It’s all that plus the day-to-day of recruiting, retaining and leading their peers. Our semester-long projects are yet one more thing to do.

But these aren’t just ordinary students. These are members of ACE. Students who understand the science, the consequences and feel compelled to take action.

So whether they’re a “big loser” or a student who has done one thing, we’re extremely proud of them — what they’ve learned, the connections they’ve made, the power they’ve seen in themselves to reshape the world, 155,000 pounds of CO2 at a time.

Thank you to the students who took part, the teacher-sponsors that put in extra hours to make it happen, the ACE Educators working with thousands of students at a time, the donors and sponsors that keep ACE going and everyone else who’s working towards making a positive impact.

We can’t wait to show you what’s up next for Fall 2012, but if this semester was any indication, it’s going to be amazing.