Palmer Trinity School | The Sink or Swim Project

Category Archives: Palmer Trinity School

Roses Are Red, Violets Are Blue, Seas Are Rising, and So Are You

February 12, 2016 DReynolds

The last two weeks have been a blur for The Sink or Swim Project but the next two weeks are even more exciting and I have a lot of news to share with you about some amazing events.

Breakthrough Miami

Before I share news about February, I must share the incredible experience that I enjoyed on Saturday, January the 30th as I lectured to a Breakthrough Miami class of Middle and High School students at Palmer Trinity.

The 80 children and their questions were absolutely incredible. In fact, following my presentation they had almost an hour worth of engaging questions about what will happen, and when, as well as many on possible solutions and how they can spread the word. As I often say, today’s children ‘Get It’ and the students at Breakthrough Miami are a perfect example of this and give me great hope that we absolutely can solve our planet’s global warming and sea level rise problems.

I must admit that this presentation was unlike any I had ever done before because it was being filmed by a crew from National Geographic’s Years of Living Dangerously (www.yearsoflivingdangerously.com) for inclusion in season two of the Emmy award winning series that will air later this year. A crew flew in from New York, Germany and elsewhere to film The Sink or Swim Project presentation for their upcoming segment on Miami that will have actor/musician Jack Black as its correspondent. The students not only learned about sea level rise that morning but had the opportunity to watch the crew work and even ask all sorts of questions about their process, profession and lives. It was truly a memorable experience and I want to thank National Geographic, the Years Project, Jon, Tomek, and Matt, as well as Gus and Brian from Palmer for their tremendous support.

Coming Attractions of The Sink or Swim Project

Now, onto what will be an incredible month (February) for The Sink or Swim Project’s educational work. Here are the coming attractions:

1. February 15th: Ahead of the Tide

I am so very excited to share with you the launch of a monumental 10 part series on sea level rise entitled Ahead of the Tide that drops its first episode on February 15^th. This landmark movement highlights the effects of sea level rise and climate change through the stories and voices of local people here in Florida.

Each video (5 to 7 minutes) will showcase different issues related to sea level rise from scientists, engineers, politicians, educators, authors, activists and others. David Smith of CAVU (www.cavu.org) has made many breathtaking environmental films and from what I’ve seen, thus far, the Ahead of the Tide series will be both stunningly beautiful, as well as deeply thought provoking.

Please check out the trailer on our website, www.miamisearise.com, or at www.aheadofthetide.org where you can sign up to join the movment and make a difference today!

2. February 26th: TEDx Youth@Miami

I love watching TED Talks and I am so very honored to share that I will be presenting my own TEDx talk at the Adrienne Arsht Center’s Knight Concert Hall here in Miami on February 26th! My talk will be about my work on sea level rise and how ‘kids get it’ and how young people, no matter how young, can have an impact in solving the problem. To learn more and even buy tickets, click here!

3. February 20th & 27th:

On two consecutive Saturdays, the 20^th and 27^th, The University of Miami will host the Cooper Fellow Training Series two day lecture entitled Empowering Capable Climate Communicators 2016. The training will take place at the University of Miami’s Cox Science Center on the Coral Gables campus from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm both days. It is sponsored by The CLEO Institute, the University of Miami’s College of Arts and Sciences and the Department of Geological Sciences.

Both days will be filled with presentations, discussions and training by some of the world’s leading climate scientists and communicators who will talk about causes, severity and impacts if humane-induced climate change, as well as what must be done to adapt, stop and reverse trends.

I am deeply proud to say that on the 27th I will be presenting a lecture entitled I Have Found My Voice. You Must Too. I plan to discuss the journey that I have been on over the last two years with The Sink or Swim Project’s educational efforts and will illustrate how anyone, no matter their age, can make a difference. Thanks to Dr. Harold Wanless, Chair of The University of Miami Department of Geological Sciences for inviting me to participate.

To learn more about Empowering Capable Climate Communicators 2016 training please click on the following flyer:

In lieu of flowers and candy for Valentine’s Day I am off to Hawaii for a week long Marine Biology Expedition. I can’t wait to see what treasures I discover during my first visit to the Pacific Ocean. I plan to swim with giant manta rays and dolphins, search for whales, hike volcanos and explore black sand beaches and rain forests.

I will do my best to post a picture or two on The Sink or Swim Project’s social media when possible and when I return will share some more BIG news with you about how children are making a huge difference in the world and why I know that my generation can and will solve the challenges our planet faces from warming and sea rise. Until then, please consider telling your friends about The Sink or Swim Project and following us on social media.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Ahead of the Tide, Breakthrough Miami, CAVU, CLEO Institute, Climate Change, Delaney Reynolds, Eco Warrior, Empowering Capable Climate Communicators 2016, Global Warming, Miami, Miamisearise.com, Palmer Trinity, Palmer Trinity School, Sea Level Rise, Sea Rise, TEDxYouth@Miami, The Sink or Swim Project, University of Miami, Valentine's Day, Years of Living Dangerously

From India With Love

December 28, 2015 DReynolds

हम हवा की दिशा को बदल नहीं सकते, लेकिन हम पाल समायोजित कर सकते हैं|

(We can’t change the direction of the wind, but we can adjust the sails.)
An Ancient Indian-Hindu Proverb

As a remarkable year for The Sink or Swim Project nears its end I am humbled to share an amazing gift that arrived a week before Christmas, a gift that should give us all hope for 2016 and the future.

On Thursday, the 17th of December, I presented my lecture on sea level rise to yet another class of wonderful children, in this case to a girls’ school of children between 6^th and 10^th grade that had assembled at 9 in the morning.

One of the things that made this presentation so special is that while the girls sat in their class at 9 in the morning, I sat in front of a camera and monitor at 10:30 the night before, 10 and a ½ hours earlier. The students were in class Friday morning, the 18^th, at the Scindia Kanya Vidyalaya School in India as I sat in my school’s library here in Miami and connected with the class live by Skype on the other side of planet Earth.

A few weeks before my lecture, Ms. Khanka, at Scindia Kanya Vidyalaya School, contacted me by email, explained that she had heard about my work and invited me (virtually) in to her classroom. With that email she also shared the most wonderful artwork that her students had created about global warming and sea rise, several of which I’ve included throughout today’s blog posting. She also explained that her students had been studying climate change and global warming and, that as part of a related project, they drew their interpretations of global warming in the pictures that you see here today.

Not only was it an amazing experience to see that my work is reaching people all over the world, but it was inspiring to see that children everywhere are engaged in global warming topics such as sea level rise. That’s what I see whenever I present my lectures to children here in South Florida, that ‘kid’s get it’ as I often explain, so to see the same response on the other side of the planet is inspiring. The girls at Scindia Kanya Vidyalaya had many wonderful questions about what is happening here in Miami and what they could do to help me, as well as how they can become more involved in solving the issue there in India.

The students also shared stories with me about how India is creating solutions to mitigate global warming, along with population growth. India is one of the world’s most susceptible countries to climate change effects, including sea level rise.

They informed me that recently in New Delhi, the capital of India, a law has been enacted that allows people to drive their cars only every-other day, based on whether their license plate ends in an odd number or even number (odd numbered ending plated cars can drive on one day, even numbered on the next). Not only does this law reduce the amount of traffic in that congested city, but it also reduces carbon dioxide emissions.

It is exactly change like this that we need to make here in Florida, and for that matter, all over the world, to begin solving global warming. For giving us all hope that today’s children will solve global warming and sea level rise, thank you to the students at Scindia Kanya Vidyalaya.

Thanks as well as to Ms. Khanka at Scindia Kanya Vidyalaya for contacting me to lecture to your students, as well as allowing me that honor. I’d also like to thank Mr. Brian Diaz, at Palmer Trinity where I attend High School, for meeting me on campus so late that night to help ensure that my Skype connection to the other side of the world was just perfect (and it was), as well as for your kind words about my work on The Sink or Swim Project.

And thanks to my mother and father for driving me to school so late at night much less for always supporting my brother and I with our many passions.

I will leave you with one last picture from the students at Scindia Kanya Vidyalaya and with a wish to you, each of you reading this, for a Happy, Healthy, New Year in 2016. While there is much work to be done to solve sea level rise and global warming good progress towards the change that’s needed has begun all over the world this year. The smiles on the faces of my new friends in India tell me that and again show that today’s children will, I am sure, fix this problem and, in doing so, make the world a better place in countless ways.

Here’s to hoping that much more progress will be made in 2016 from Miami to India to beyond!