While most students were sleeping in during Friday's Pro-D day, Grade 11 students Patricia Loo-Xu and Annie Le from David Thompson were up early to attend Windermere Secondary's fifth annual Climate Change Conference (C3).  The conference, organized by the Windermere Leadership program, gathered together close to 200 staff and students from schools all across the Lower Mainland on Friday, November 22. Students and attendees said it was an unforgettable day of engaging workshops, networking, and inspirational learning.

"The conference was awesome! We learned a lot of new skills and info," said Le, a first-timer at the event. 

For Loo-Xu, it was her second year attending the conference.

"I went to the C3 Conference last year along with other members of Green Team. My experience with it was very rewarding so I thought it was definitely worth spending my Pro-D Day on it this year," said Loo-Xu.

Both students said The C3 Conference had a wonderful selection of speakers and workshops. Participants started the day off with inspirational keynotes from Andrew Weaver, and VSB alumni Tesicca Truong and Neelam Khare. This was followed by various workshops where students and staff alike had the opportunity to learn about climate change as well as learning about the many ways they could get involved in their communities.

Loo-Xu says the most important learning he took away from the conference came from the sharing that took place between the participants.

"We got to hear from a lot of amazing youth in Vancouver that are interested in carrying out green initiatives," he said. "That's really inspiring and exciting and motivates us to bring new ideas back."