The relationship between Council on the Environment of New York City (CENYC) and the High School for Environmental Studies (HSES) dates back to the early 1990’s. A White Paper authored by CENYC’s Environmental Education Program Director Mike Zamm calling for the creation of a high school dedicated to infusing environmental education into its curriculum was published in 1991. In 1992, HSES opened its doors and CENYC has been intimately involved ever since.

Mike Zamm is a longtime member of the Board of Directors of the Friends of HSES, where he provides advice and guidance on the school’s core mission. He works with teachers on professional development helping the school provide an education that uses environmental concepts as a context for all subject areas. He also continues to serve as a dynamic in-class educator, inspiring and motivating young people to grow as environmental stewards.

In 2008, the entire freshman class at HSES (330 students) participated in CENYC’s environmental education program, Training Student Organizers (TSO). Read Mike’s HSES commencement address.

Created in 1978, TSO is a hands-on youth-based environmental education program. Young people study relevant issues like climate change, water and air quality, urban sprawl, resource conservation and develop service learning projects that positively benefit their community.

In school year 2007/2008, a total of 825 students from schools in four boroughs and the Catskill Watershed participated in TSO. They planted over 2,200 trees and 3,000 native plants and removed thousands of square feet of invasive species in city parks. They conducted avian field studies and shared data with Cornell’s Lab of Ornithology. They surveyed an hundreds of city blocks as part of TSO’s urban environmental monitoring project searching for evidence of leaking fire hydrants, clogged catch basins, noisy subways, exposed street lamp wiring, poor air quality and other hazardous conditions. Their field observations were reported to the appropriate city agencies and many of the problems have been fixed. They learned about the link between energy use, global warming and the need to seek alternative energy sources. They built and displayed solar ovens and solar houses, wrote newsletters about alternative energy and energy conservation and distributed them to hundreds of schoolmates and community residents and practiced lighting conservation at home.

An additional 300 students participated in CENYC’s “Learn It, Grow It, Eat It” Project aimed at improving the health of young people through nutrition education, hands-on gardening and improved food access.