The massachusetts coalition for occupational safety and health's project entitled 'using a peer leadership model to ensure clean, green and healthy schools' building on previous successes working with…

The massachusetts coalition for occupational safety and health's project entitled 'using a peer leadership model to ensure clean, green and healthy schools' building on previous successes working with schools and environmental health issues. The current project fits within the organization's continuing mission of developing the capacity of low-income communities of color to achieve healthy environments at work, school and in neighborhoods. Consistent with the organization's approach, the project also engages impacted community members - youths of color, teachers, janitors, parents, and others - as leaders in reducing environmental hazards and promoting healthy communities. Much of the project work involves training youth leaders to work with boston public schools staff, parents and school children to recognize indoor environmental health issues as well as how to address such issues. The focus of the trainings is on identifying asthma triggers and other related indoor environmental stressors in classrooms, school office spaces, and, by extension, the home environment where students and staff spend most of their time. In addition, youth will receive training on advocating for safer school environments and serve as ambassadors in situations that call for greater awareness of the need for good indoor air quality.activities:the goal of the organization's project is to: 1) achieve measurable improvements in addressing asthma and adverse environmental health triggers (specifically poor indoor air quality and excessive heat), and enhancing capacity to address environmental health inequities in schools in high risk communities in boston; 2) engage youth and adult ambassadors in boston to influence city and school decision-makers about the importance of considering indoor air quality when making decisions around safe cleaning, reductions of mold, dust, and allergens in indoor school spaces, ventilation improvements, and strategies to address excessive heat; to ensure that school buildings are safe for students, teachers and staff with asthma and from infectious diseases; 3) advance emergency preparedness and ecosystem resilience through expanded understanding of the impact of heat stress on school environments and develop new strategies to reduce the impact of rising temperatures on students, teachers, and staff; 4) engage youth and adult ambassadors in boston to influence city and school decision-makers about the importance of considering indoor air quality, heat, asthma, and climate resilience when making decisions about building upgrades made possible by investment dollars being invested in schools as part of the green new deal for boston public schools.subrecipient:no subawards are included in this assistance agreement.outcomes:by the close of the cooperative agreement, the organization's project will have achieved the following measurable results: in boston 1) 40-50 youth peer leaders from boston gain the knowledge to become ambassadors in efforts to reduce asthma triggers (chemical cleaners, dust, mold, allergens, lack of air circulation, and excessive heat) and promote school environmental health; 2) through environmental walk-throughs, in coordination with the boston teachers union, and other healthy school actions, youth peer leaders will contribute to the improvement of environmental health in 6-8 schools; 3) through 'STUDENT4STUDENT' workshops, peer leaders will raise public awareness and increase youth engagement in school environmental health efforts; 4) as a result of efforts by adult and youth ambassadors, 6-8 schools will have taken asthma and environmental health action steps focused on safe cleaning, reductions of mold, dust, and allergens in indoor school spaces, ventilation improvements, and strategies to address excessive heat; 5) through collaborative efforts of ambassadors (youth and adult), city officials, and boston teacher union members, environmental health factors