Perpich Students Partner with City of Golden Valley for Climate Equity Plan Arts Event

November 14, 2025

Perpich students partnered with the City of Golden Valley for a Climate Equity Plan Arts event on November 13, 2025. The event took place at Brookview Golden Valley and was a free, family-friendly event open to all. Attendees learned about simple ways to become more sustainable with energy, water, waste, and transportation while creating art and listening to live music.

Perpich’s National Art Honor Society (NAHS) and students from Derek Debrauske’s Environment & Sustainability class engaged young people and families in conversations about composting and rain gardens, and offered creative, hands-on activities like block printing and collage making.

The event was part of the City’s efforts to create a Climate Equity Plan (CEP) that aims to “reduce greenhouse gas emissions, prepare for weather changes, and create action steps to benefit all who live, work, and play in Golden Valley,” according to the City website. The overall goal of the plan is to “understand climate concerns from all walks of life in the community, including those who may be most vulnerable to the impacts, and work together to find solutions.” The City has been conducting community engagement, research, and data analysis, including a community survey, for several months. They will now take the feedback from those efforts, combined with input from the arts event, and draft a CEP for the City Council to consider.

The City and their partner, WSB, reached out to Perpich over the summer to discuss the possibility of creating this arts event with Perpich Arts High School students. Later in the fall, the group convened and brainstormed on how best to move forward. Perpich’s National Art Honor Society (NAHS) and students from Derek Debrauske’s Environment & Sustainability class seemed like great options for student engagement. The students were excited for the opportunity. They prepared their presentations for weeks, infusing creativity and community through the environmental and climate lens. At the event, they hosted several stations, educating visitors on Perpich’s composting program and rain garden, and offered creative, hands-on activities like face painting, block printing, collage making, and button making.

“It was amazing to be a part of the student planning, to see their creative thinking immersed through the lens of climate and community,” said Rebecca Bullen, Perpich Arts High School Principal. “They were excited going into it, thrilled to be there, and the morning after, when I asked the students I saw about their experience, they shared, ‘That was so much fun!’ and ‘That was even better than I thought it would be!’ An amazing creative, fun, and educational experience for us all.”

Samantha Holt (Visual Arts 2026) was one of the student organizers. “This event exceeded my expectations!” she said. “Everyone we worked with was so prepared to help. I can think of multiple examples of my peers going above and beyond in order to make this night a success. It was very rewarding to interact with the kids and see them so engaged!”

Audrey Tuite (Musical Theater 2026) was another student organizer. “I think the event had a good turnout and it was nice that they had live music and cookies,” she said. “We got to talk to numerous families where young kids would ask what composting was, and then their parents would tell me that they had a compost system at home/they used the city composting system – which was an awesome thing to hear! It was great to explain it to young people, so they can also pass this knowledge on to others and understand the significance of composting.”

Perpich students help children make block prints using carved sweet potatoes.

Ethan Kehrberg is the Sustainability Specialist for Golden Valley and is a lead on the creation of the Climate Equity Plan. “Everyone (and I mean everyone) was incredibly impressed by the [Perpich] students,” Ethan shared. “They were all so friendly, prepared, and engaging. It was cool to see how creative they were with the different activities and to hear them share about the environmental projects they’re doing at Perpich. I’m grateful for their passion and I cannot thank them enough. It was exactly what I was hoping for and more. Nothing made me happier than seeing parents and kids learning about sustainability, making art together, and proudly walking out with their creations. I’m going to remember those smiles for a long time.”

In 2025, Golden Valley City Council set 2030 strategic directives to improve sustainability and resilience. In the summer of 2025, Golden Valley released a request for proposal and selected WSB to support the development of a Climate Equity Plan. Inclusive engagement with all populations are prioritized throughout the process, as well as co-creating visions and goals for the plan.

The National Art Honor Society (NAHS) is an American honor society for high school students. It was established in 1978 by the National Art Education Association (NAEA) to recognize outstanding accomplishments in the visual arts by students in grades 9 to 12. The NAEA also supports a National Junior Art Honor Society for students in grades 6 to 8. The NAHS chapter at Perpich Arts High School started in 2024.