Senior Uses $5,000 Grant to Make an Impact at Nearby Elementary School
Maddie Davidson ’25 received a Youth Climate Action Fund Grant from the City of Allentown to create a tree science and stewardship project at Allentown School District’s Muhlenberg Elementary School. She will also present at a worldwide conference called CityLab being held October 14-16 in Mexico City.By: Marie Tohill ’25 Wednesday, October 9, 2024 03:17 PM
Maddie Davidson ’25 and Julie Morrison ’26 outside Muhlenberg ElementaryMaddie Davidson ’25, a sustainability studies major and creative writing & journalism minor, established a connection with Muhlenberg Elementary School as a sophomore through the Office of Community Engagement. She taught an environmental education curriculum to fourth graders, igniting her passion for climate change activism in the classroom.
This summer, she heard from alum Kyle Ropski ’22, a member of the Allentown Environmental Advisory Council. He told her that Allentown had received a $50,000 grant that would be divided into microgrants to fund climate action project proposals submitted by young people, ages 15 to 24. On behalf of the on-campus environmental action team enACT, for which Davidson serves as an executive board member, she and Muhlenberg’s sustainability specialist, Natalie Sobrinski, created the tree science and stewardship project idea that won her the grant.
“Muhlenberg has been the most phenomenal playground to tap into community collaborators and partnerships, especially through the Office of Community Engagement. My classes have also given me a space to put my work into a larger context and reflect on how I want to do this work now and in the future.”
—Maddie Davidson ’25
What does the tree science and stewardship project look like?
Maddie Davidson ’25 For eight weeks, several volunteers and I will be teaching environmentally-focused lessons in four different classrooms. At the end of our eight-week curriculum, the fifth graders will participate in a tree-planting festival, spearheaded by Julie Morrison ’26, where they will have agency in which trees we plant and where they are planted. We have relied a lot on community partners, such as local arborists, in creating this program, and collaboration is a huge part of our mission.
The grant will be split up to pay for the trees that we will be planting and preparation on the grounds of Muhlenberg Elementary. We would also like to pay for food and other fun things for the tree-planting festival at the end of the program. We’re also putting a lot of money back into the classrooms by purchasing items for teachers that they have requested through a wishlist.
How did your experiences at Muhlenberg College prepare you for this project?
MD Muhlenberg has been the most phenomenal playground to tap into community collaborators and partnerships, especially through the Office of Community Engagement. My classes have also given me a space to put my work into a larger context and reflect on how I want to do this work now and in the future. My work, enACT’s work and the OCE’s work does not exist in a vacuum. We have to do this work in the context of creating a safer, healthier and more equitable future.
What are your next steps with this project?
MD Allentown got this grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies, and representatives from Bloomberg selected me as one of three speakers to address a worldwide conference called CityLab [October 14-16 in Mexico City]. The last CityLab conference discussed youth, grassroots-driven climate action. Allentown was selected as one of 60 global cities awarded with $50,000 to bring back to their city. I [will] represent Allentown and speak about my work in climate action, leadership and activism on a panel. I will be addressing all of the attendees of the conference, including [former New York City] Mayor [Mike] Bloomberg.
Mayors from all over the world will be in attendance, so I am extremely excited and honored. I had no idea that this was even a possible outcome of getting this grant. It was already an insane honor to even get the grant, and to be selected to speak is a huge domino effect that I am completely in awe about.
