Houston high school students create videos to tell air pollution stories

Galena Park High School student Evelyn Garcia’s video won first place in the 2019 “Houston Teens Care About Clean Air” Video Contest.

Evelyn Garcia has had asthma for as long as she can remember. And she has always been aware of the effect the problematic air quality near her Pasadena, Texas, home has on her and others who have grown up in the area.

The March 2019 fires at Intercontinental Terminals Company (ITC) in Deer Park caused her school, Galena Park High School, to close for three days. So when Evelyn, 17 and a junior, saw the poster for the third annual “Houston Teens Care About Clean Air” Video Contest at her school, she knew she had to participate.

“Ever since I was young, I have cared about having clean air in my community,” Evelyn said. “The level of contamination affected me health-wise, and I think I had the credibility to talk about it in my video.”

EDF challenged students participating in its Environmental Youth Council program to create three-minute videos using their personal stories to educate others about air pollution and its impact on the body. Out of 23 submissions, Evelyn’s video, “Inhaling Hope,” won first place.

It begins with a close-up of Evelyn’s inhaler. Sitting in front of a black background, Evelyn tells her story of being a child who always wanted to play outside with the other kids — but her asthma and the polluted Pasadena air made it difficult. The simple, powerful video ends with Evelyn giving suggestions for ways other teens can help address air pollution, such as riding bikes.

EDF’s Environmental Youth Council initiative includes students from three Houston-area high schools: Galena Park, Pasadena Memorial High School, and Raul Yzaguirre School for Success in the East End. This EDF program, made possible by grant funding from the Gulf Research Program of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, provides students with a strong foundation not only in environmental health and science, but also in civic leadership.

2019 winners

First place — $2,500 prize, “Inhaling Hope,” Evelyn Garcia, (Galena Park High School)

Second place — $1,500 prize, “Illustrated: Particulate Matter’s Health Effects,” Kevin Juarez, (Pasadena Memorial High School)

Third place — $500 prize, “Gasping for Change,” Leslie Garcia, (Galena Park High School)

Honorable Mention, “Air Pollution, a Slow Execution,” Mark Vazquez, (Pasadena Memorial High School)

Youth voices such as these are critical to understanding the health impacts from poor air quality and building support for policy solutions. Students in EDF’s Environmental Youth Council program participate in science-based learning with a curriculum on environmental health and climate issues that is paired with a speaker series featuring local leaders in the field, student-organized town hall meetings addressing local environmental concerns, field trips, and the video contest.

Educating and empowering students to become community ambassadors, the program is shaping a new generation of leaders in Houston who can develop innovative and equitable solutions to the challenges of environmental health and climate.

The “Houston Teens Care About Clean Air” Video Contest is a unique opportunity for students to learn more about the sources and impacts of air pollution in their city and advocate for solutions. Students used a range of techniques to create their videos, including animations, personal interviews and live footage of their neighborhoods along the Houston Ship Channel.

This year’s video contest also included a People’s Choice component. Students were asked to share the YouTube link to their video with classmates, friends, and family, and the videos were viewed more than 8,000 times in only four days!

Congratulations to all of our winners! You can share the winning videos from the Houston Teens Care About Clean Air YouTube page.

Research reported in this blog was supported by the Gulf Research Program of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine under award number 2000009823.