Louisiana Students Must Be Immersed in Our Coastal Threat | The Times-Picayune
Vegetation grows on newly formed land at the mouth of the Wax Lake Delta in St. Mary Parish Tuesday, July 29, 2014. (Photo by Brett Duke)
Most parents want their local schools to prepare their children for a prosperous and safe future. So they demand training in math, science, computer skills, reading comprehension and the like.
That curriculum might be good enough in most of the country but in Louisiana, especially its southern third, it leaves gaping holes that fail our children and our future.
I’m talking about the need for Louisiana-specific environmental education in K-12. Our schools should be educating our children about the risks and opportunities we face from sea level rise and our sinking delta; about how the state is fighting to prevent the Gulf of Mexico from swallowing most of the land south of U.S. 90, and about how if this challenge isn’t met, they might be part of what could be the nation’s first forced migration due to environmental conditions.
That kind of coursework currently is not required by the state, but there’s a pilot effort under way in Terrebonne Parish to change that, the Coastal Classroom Program of the South Louisiana Wetlands Discovery Center in Houma.
“Education means preparing our children for the future they will face, so how can we not include this?” asks Jonathan Foret, the center’s executive director.
Read the rest of the article at The Times-Picayune.
