After a successful win last year with the Cincinnati School Board passing a $1 billion green school refurbishment bond, teachers at Aiken using this year to get students involved with environmental justice issues. Between chemistry, English and social studies, the students of Aiken are learning about environmental disasters worldwide and how these disasters affect local communities. An upcoming cross-curriculum project will take students to nearby Mill Creek, considered the “most degraded stream in North America.” Students will test water quality in their chemistry course, write persuasive letters to city council and polluting industries in English class and up their community activism in their social studies course. Additionally, students will test outdoor air quality around the school with hopes to raise the awareness of industry pollution in Cincinnati.