Tuesday - March 16th
March brings Women’s History Month and we will be recognizing a special woman each day during our announcements. Today we are recognizing:
Greta Thunberg
Greta Thunberg is a Swedish environmental activist who is internationally known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action against climate change. Thunberg initially gained notice for her youth and her straightforward speaking manner, both in public and to political leaders and assemblies, in which she criticizes world leaders for their failure to take what she considers sufficient action to address the climate crisis.
Thunberg's activism started after convincing her parents to adopt several lifestyle choices to reduce their own carbon footprint. In August 2018, at age 15, she started spending her school days outside the Swedish Parliament to call for stronger action on climate change. Soon, other students engaged in similar protests in their own communities. Together, they organized a school climate strike movement under the name Fridays for Future. After Thunberg addressed the 2018 United Nations Climate Change Conference, student strikes took place every week somewhere in the world. In 2019, there were multiple coordinated multi-city protests involving over a million students each. To avoid flying, Thunberg sailed to North America where she attended the 2019 UN Climate Action Summit. Her speech there, in which she exclaimed "how dare you", was widely taken up by the press and incorporated into music.
Her sudden rise to world fame has made her both a leader and a target for critics, especially due to her age. Her influence on the world stage has been described by The Guardian and other newspapers as the "Greta effect".[11] She received numerous honors and awards, including an honorary Fellowship of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, inclusion in Time's 100 most influential people, being the youngest Time Person of the Year, inclusion in the Forbes list of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women (2019),and three consecutive nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize.
The Colorado State TSA Virtual Competition was in full swing from March 1-March 6. Every single Powell Middle School TSA member qualified for the semifinals in at least one event. Congratulations go out to Aly Bruno, Gillian Steinhart, Keira Kou, Heidi Hucke, Julia Hildahl, James Donahue, Lane Larson, Trinity Schoenthaler, Delilah Behan, Georgia Jewel, Cole Cherney, and John Pappas.
The following students placed in the top three and earned the opportunity to advance to Nationals in the following events. Placing 3rd in the state in Junior Solar Sprint was Aly Bruno, Delilah Behan and Gillian Steinhart. Finishing second place in Technology Bowl was Keira Kou, James Donahue and Julia Hildahl and a 3rd place finish in Video Game Design the team of James Donahue, Lane Larson, Cole Cherney, and John Pappas! Way to go PUMAS!