Image by WOKANDAPIX from Pixabay.
School indoor air quality for K-12 students has been an under-appreciated issue in US schools that was illuminated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Residents of any given state are unaware of how under-ventilated their classrooms are, and studies performed elsewhere may miss the mark by seeming too abstract and distant to local parents. There is no literature in Alabama specifically to tie under-ventilation, illness, and absenteeism together. In the past, chronic absenteeism for K-12 students was consistently couched as an opaque problem with no mention of the role of illness. However, there have been related studies elsewhere that suggest that schools can expect to address a significant proportion of absenteeism by reducing the spread of illness in classrooms. Thus, this project aims to establish community lending programs for CO2 monitors in Madison, AL by collaborating with the Madison City Library system. We envision that the outcomes of this project push the parents and teachers to demand diligence regarding school air quality.
Indoor Air Care Advocates (IACA) is a group of concerned parents who have worked extensively in advocating for indoor air quality in Madison, AL. We currently have 75 members in Alabama. We have also worked with many individuals and organizations within and outside Alabama, including the University of Alabama in Huntsville, Alabama Asthma Coalition, AARP, American Health Care Association (AHCA/NCAL), and Arizona State University.
We have had opportunities to bring this issue up to policymakers by giving presentations to the Madison City and County Schools system and writing letters to the Alabama State Department of Education, Alabama Department of Public Health, and our Members of Congress.
The community would like to establish a community lending program for CO2 monitors to parents, guardians, and teachers to equip them with data and evidence and raise awareness for indoor air quality issues. This will be done by procuring CO2 monitors, working with local libraries to create kiosks, lending kits, and raising awareness among parents by organizing presentations and local forums.
Activities
Actors
Outputs
Outcomes
Impact
Month 1 = December 2023
| Activity | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| CO2 monitors procurement
(Library – 10; IACA – 5) |
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Procurement of other items, including but not limited to:
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Formalization of agreements with Madison City Library
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| Check-in with ASU SciStarter program | |||||||||||||
| Volunteer recruitment | |||||||||||||
Materials deployment to libraries
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| Active campaigns (presentations, community forums, advertisement dissemination) at the different libraries and virtually | |||||||||||||
| Evaluation |
Michael Bailey is a Co-Founder of Indoor Air Care Advocates and a father of three. Using his background as a malware reverse engineer, he adopts a “research Dad” method, simplifying complex data to engage stakeholders. Additionally, Michael serves on the Pew Charitable Trusts advisory committee, focusing on improving indoor air quality in US K-12 schools.
Tara Bailey is a devoted mother of three and passionate advocate focused on enhancing indoor air quality in K-12 schools as a Co-Founder of Indoor Air Care Advocates. She also works to promote government transparency and civic engagement initiatives, striving for healthier educational environments and empowered communities.
Jennifer Yarbrough is a Co-Founder of Indoor Air Care Advocates and a passionate advocate for clean air in schools and public spaces. She is a loving mother of three with a background in advertising, marketing, and academic administration support. Dedicated to elevating indoor air quality standards in US K-12 schools, she applies her expertise in marketing to drive impactful change and healthier learning environments nationwide.
Dr. Colleen Rosales is a Thriving Earth Exchange Community Fellow and serves as the Project Manager for this project. She has a background in indoor and atmospheric air pollution research and is the Strategic Partnerships Director for the nonprofit organization OpenAQ, which fights air inequality by providing universal and open access to air quality data worldwide.
Senior scientist:
Student scientists:
Thriving Earth Exchange asks all scientific partners to work with the community to help define a project with concrete local impact to which they can contribute as pro-bono volunteers and collaborators. This work can also position the scientists and communities to seek additional funding, together, for the next stage.
Interested in volunteering as a scientist? Apply now!
For questions, email Colleen Rosales, [email protected]
More information about the AGU Thriving Earth Exchange program: https://thrivingearthexchange.org/
