ISN Announces Ignatian Carbon Challenge in Anticipation of Laudato Si’ 1-Year Anniversary

BY ISN STAFF | May 24, 2016

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, OH – In anticipation of the one-year anniversary of Pope Francis’s encyclical, Laudato Si’, ISN is announcing its newest program for high schools, the Ignatian Carbon Challenge.

Created by a team of theology and science teachers at Cheverus High School in Portland, Maine, the Ignatian Carbon Challenge invites both individuals and institutions to address climate change and environmental justice through a series of monthly challenges. Officially starting in September, the program will run through the 2016-2017 school year. Challenges will respond to our current ecological context, the needs of the global community, and Pope Francis’ call to be responsible stewards of creation (sample institutional challenges can be found here).

Reflecting on the creation of the program, Cheverus biology teacher Cicy Po stated, “In planning our sustainability-focused faculty development workshops, we realized the limits of our efforts when only thinking about our own school. The Ignatian Carbon Challenge brings together our whole network and helps us realize that the work towards sustainability impacts more than ourselves and that together, united, we have the capacity to make a difference that is much greater than the sum of our parts.”

Mary King, fellow team member and theology teacher at Cheverus, added, “With Pope Francis’ powerful call in Laudato Si’ and the current ecological landscape, the time for action is now. The Ignatian Carbon Challenge is a hopeful and concrete action step.”

“The Ignatian Carbon Challenge creates opportunities for students, faculty, administrators, parents, and alumni, to join together, not just within their school but across the country to respond to Pope Francis’s prophetic call to ‘care for our common home,’” said Christopher Kerr, executive director of the Ignatian Solidarity Network. “Working as a network, our individual and institutional actions will collectively have a significant impact in responding to this call.”

King, Po, and team member Helene Adams have pitched the program to schools nationwide, and the Ignatian Carbon Challenge already has commitments from a dozen schools spanning from Portland, Maine to Portland, Oregon. 

From now until September, teachers, club moderators, and administrators are invited to learn more about the challenge and commit to signing up their institution, classroom, or club for the 2016-2017 school year.

To learn more, please visit the Ignatian Carbon Challenge homepage or follow the conversation on Twitter and Facebook using #IggyCarbon.

For more information contact:
Christopher Kerr
Phone: 216-397-2088 | e-mail: [email protected]