Youth united will not be defeated!

We asked for your stories…

…and you responded. Students in California sent photos and a film.

Palisades Charter High School environmental science students demonstrate with handmade signs on Earth Day 2025, three months after the Palisades Fire destroyed their town.

Burning for over three weeks, the Palisades Fire destroyed these students’ school and their town of Pacific Palisades, California. Their fierce grit, supported by teachers, school staff, their families, city officials, and the entire community, has turned into an ongoing grassroots campaign.

How a school teacher inspired students to make a difference

Steve Engelmann, the students’ teacher, sets the stage for us:

“I teach AP Environmental Science at Palisades Charter High School [in California]. I also teach another class which is a project-based, independent-study, community-service class. I tell the kids they can do anything they want, as long as it is community service, and legal.

For several years, one of those projects was to hold a climate protest on the FFF global climate strike day. The kids decided not to do a walkout, or skip school, but to hold a rally in the village near our school in the afternoon. They got a city permit to close a small street. They invited local environmental groups. This year there was a vegan food truck.

After the protest this last September, the kids decided to do a follow-up on Earth Day, 2025. But fate had a different idea. In January, the Palisades fire happened. The village burned. Part of our high school burned, including my classroom of 20+ years. In late February, we were looking at photos from the fall protest and an idea sparked. The kids decided to recreate the same photos, with the same signs, but in front of the burned village. Since all of the banners and signs were lost in my classroom, they made almost identical copies. We gathered in the village, the kids put on hazmat suits, and we did a reshoot.”

–Steve Engelmann, AP Environmental Science teacher at Palisades Charter High School

Before and After

View One Planet, One Chance, a slideshow of images of the environmental science students at the 2024 Global Climate Strike (months before the wildfire), and the “follow-up” on Earth Day 2025, in front of the very same buildings, now burned.

Two views from the students’ film, “This is What,’ showing black wildfire smoke billowing over the Pacific Ocean at the beginning of the Palisades Fire on 7 January, 2025.

Mr. Engelmann’s students also created a short film called This is What, about their losses in the fire. The above image from the film shows the wildfire smoke billowing out across the Pacific shoreline in the first hours of the fire.

Schools can be the crucibles that foster protection of the Earth

Despite tragic casualties and the devastation of their lives, students and teachers of Palisades Charter High School continue to rally against fossil fuel-burning and climate change, speaking out against climate injustices, educating others about sustainability, and setting a bold example for other schools and students around the globe to follow.

Three students speak out

Credits: Steve Engelman

– Carter –

Seeing the fires destroy the neighborhood where I went to high school was terrifying. Calling friends, texting old teachers, and just watching the flames from my house was one of the scariest things that has happened to me. That sense of helplessness, watching my friends’ homes burn on the news, hasn’t left me. It’s the memories of that feeling that drive me to take action. Climate change caused this disaster, and we have a responsibility to make a difference and prevent it from happening again—to anyone, anywhere. I cannot begin to imagine the pain of losing one’s home, and now, as we rebuild, it is time to transform that pain into action. I love the Palisades despite the relatively short time I spent there, and it is that love that pushes me to fight for a better future. This time it happened here, but it will continue happening to countless people across the world if we don’t take action now. Whether via science, policy, or simply making changes in our everyday lives, we owe it to ourselves and the rest of the world to do something. This is no longer just a fight to make a better world for future generations, it’s a fight to make a better world here and now. It is my hope that as our lives move forward we keep sustainability in mind and work to save both the planet, and ourselves.

– Justin –

The Palisades Fire destroyed a portion of my school and my closest friends and volleyball teammates were displaced, scattering the people who made Pali feel like home. As I watched it happen, I kept thinking that it could have been prevented. But with our warming climate and unpredictable fire risks, stopping these disasters feels impossible. Now, I’m channeling that frustration into action. This summer, I’m at COSMOS, a STEM program at UCLA, working with professors to improve fire prediction. We’re using data from sensors on the International Space Station to track hotspots and transpiration patterns during fire season, analyzing past fires like the Palisades to anticipate future risks. While fires can be random, tracking these hotspots can be a great way to mitigate brush fires that can cause these fires to spiral out of control.

Maria stands on the right with the camera. Credits: Steve Engelman

– Maria –

Hello, my name is Maria. I lived in the Palisades for eight years, and I am an incoming senior. I lived a few minutes from Pali High and would walk to school everyday. On January 7th, my family saw the smoke out our windows and knew we had to evacuate. My mom works in wildfire mitigation and disaster preparedness, so we were as prepared as possible to pack up and go, but none of us could have been prepared for the reality of losing our home. After the fires, I launched myself into as many activities as possible to distract myself and support my community. I attended VerdeExchange and LA Climate Week to support rebuilding talks and met with the Chief Sustainability Officer and Green Building Architect from UCLA to learn about how to rebuild our campus sustainably. After presenting ideas to my principal and LAUSD [Los Angeles Unified School District], I have stepped into a leadership role on the Clean Energy Task Force and am looking forward to being a young voice advocating for climate action as we rebuild.

Citizens from the Pacific Palisades in California at a post-wildfire Earth Day demonstration in 2025. PHOTO: Steve Engelmann