Mayor visits Climate Champions Club at Saratoga CLC

Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird is used to answering the tough questions, so she was fully prepared last week when she visited the Community Learning Center at Saratoga Elementary School.

She was there to speak with students in the Climate Champions Club about her proposed climate action plan for Lincoln. But, just like in one of her press conferences, there were a few curveballs.

“Hold old are you?”

“What’s your favorite color?”

“Is it fun being the mayor?”

Mostly, though, the students stuck to questions related to what they’ve been learning in their new after-school club, topics such as climate change, greenhouse gases and measuring your carbon footprint. 

Questions included: How do you shrink your carbon footprint? Are you shrinking your carbon footprint? Do you like to garden? How will you help our planet? How will you get more wind turbines and bigger solar farms? How do you think climate change is affecting animals?

They also asked the mayor about the climate action plan.

“The climate action plan is sort of like a roadmap,” she told the students. “If you know you want to get somewhere you need to know the path to get there. The climate action plan is a pathway to a brighter, stronger, more sustainable future for all of us.” 

The LPS Sustainability Team worked in conjunction with Saratoga CLC Coordinator Angela Hauserman to start the club. LPS Sustainability Coordinator Britney Albin said future topics for the club will include water, waste and transportation. 

The mayor’s visit offered a valuable learning experience.

“This was not only an amazing experience for students to learn about climate issues and what is being done to help in their community,” Albin said, “but it was also a window into civic action and an opportunity for students to have their voices heard.”


Published: February 23, 2021, Updated: February 23, 2021