The AP Environmental Science classes were visited by two representatives of the Ro Khanna staff on November 8, AP Environmental Science teacher Glen Barrett said. The representatives discussed the Green New Deal, how a law gets passed, and why bills get proposed, which is a very complicated process, he continued.The two representatives were Galen Boggs, an old student of Barrett’s, and Lakeisha Bryant, his environmental advisor, Barrett said. Organizing the visit all started when he ran into his old student, Boggs, at an Environmental Club clean up for the City of Milpitas. Barrett recognized Boggs and brought up that he would love for him to come talk to the AP Environmental Science class about the Green New Deal, he added.“The visit related to the content of the class because AP Environmental Science is not just a natural science class, but also a social science class that includes how to get involved with the legal, ethical, and economic side of issues, so this is directly connected,” Barrett said. “I keep track of the local politics and the Green New Deal is a great way to understand a lot of the environmental matters and laws, which are also big on the AP exam.”There was a lot to learn during the visit, for instance, a bill can die at any moment but it can be brought up again, Junior Emily Than said. As of now, there are many good ideas on how to implement the Green New Deal, but they don’t have a solid plan on how. The Khanna team wants to make an electric grid, so if our power goes out, then we can take power from another city. They’re trying to make a national grid so someone in a different state could get power from California and vice versa, she continued.“I asked the representatives a lot of questions about Ro Khanna, and a little known fact is that he doesn’t own a car because he doesn’t believe in that since he is very environmentally clean, and I think that is inspiring,” Than said. “When Mr. Barrett first told us about the visit, I was ecstatic, because I am the only Ro Khanna fan account in existence, follow my twitter account @krazy4khanna. Here’s a haiku that I made for Ro Khanna: ‘Ro Khanna he is, the most gorgeous man ever, the light of my life.’”The visit went really well because the representatives were very detailed with their information about the Green New Deal and all their policies, Junior Rosalyn Phan said. This visit taught us how we can help fix our environment by supporting governments, laws, and bills that try to protect the environment, she added.“From this visit, I feel like there is hope that there are ways the government can help us keep the environment protected, despite the fact that it is often the government destroying the environment,” Phan said. “It’s relieving to know there are people trying to prevent environmental disasters by proposing new bills and laws.”Barrett plans to have more visits like this in the future, he said. As it was the first visit for the Ro Khanna representatives to the APES class, he thinks they will get even better as they go forward since they will learn the audience. Working alongside them, Barrett hopes to make the future experiences more engaging and exciting, he added.“The representatives deal with the constituents, they spend a lot of time in DC voting and dealing with the national scale, as well as making sure the local constituents are listened to,” Barrett said. “I want my students to see that there are representatives locally that are not just representing Milpitas as a town, but literally an MHS graduate himself, and their voices can be listened to on a national level.”
