SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – A Berkeley Unified School District teacher has been selected by TIME as one of the 10 innovative teachers of 2022.
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The innovation award praises elementary science teacher Neelam Patil's efforts to inspire students to act to slow the climate crisis by planting micro forests at Berkeley schools, Berkeleyside reported.
Patil teaches at Cragmont and Oxford elementary schools and last year, she planted fast-growing Miyawaki forests at Cragmont, Malcolm X and King school yards, the website said. These micro forests hold 40 times more carbon and are 100 times more biodiverse.
"Neelam's innovative work to bring the first Miyawaki School Forests in the United States to three Berkeley Schools has engaged our students in important work that focuses on climate change solutions," Berkeley Unified School District told KCBS Radio. "These ultra-dense, biodiverse forests have added a total of 3,300 saplings to three school sites."
She also leads the Green team at Oxford and Cragmont, which is a student club that educates others on climate change using creative formats of teaching.
"Climate change is such an overwhelming issue. And often times my students feel, and I feel, very hopeless," Patil told Berkeleyside. "This is just a very, very targeted solution that people can get extremely excited about."
After planting the forests, she has formed an organization called Green Pocket Forests to expand her micro forests in different places.
She is working with local and state legislators to get funding for more planting in California, the website reported.
This is the first year Time has awarded teachers who use creativity or technology to engage their students in education.
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