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Chiara Carignan of Roseville Area High School, and the GreenStep Club, Students for Climate Action, received the 2026 MAEE Student of the Year award.
GreenStep Youth Leader, Chiara Carignan awarded MAEE Student Environmental Stewardship Award
GreenStep Youth Leader, Chiara Carignan awarded MAEE Student Environmental Stewardship Award
Sep 30, 2026 · MN GreenStep Schools, a program of Bold Futures Now
On May 17, 2026, GreenStep Youth leader, Chiara Carignan, was awarded the Minnesota Association for Environmental Education (MAEE), 2026 Excellence in Environmental Education Award in the Student Environmental Stewardship Award category.
On their website, MAEE states: "Chiara Carignan is a student leader and environmental advocate who has made a significant impact through sustainability education, climate action, and community engagement. As leader of the Students for Climate Action Club at Roseville Area High School, she helped lead efforts that resulted in Roseville becoming the first Minnesota GreenStep Schools district and high school in the state.
Chiara has educated peers, school leaders, legislators, and community members through public presentations, State Fair outreach, sustainability workshops, and advocacy for clean energy and environmental initiatives. Her leadership has supported projects including a pollinator garden, thrift exchanges, solar education outreach, and student-led sustainability planning."
Since she first engaged with MN GreenStep Schools, Chiara not only committed to environmental stewardship and environmental education directly, but also to leading and working together with others to make environmental progress. Chiara was part of, and then led Roseville Area High School Students for Climate Action, a group whose leadership inspired the formation of the MN GreenStep Schools GreenStep Clubs pathway for recognition on our website. Under her leadership, this club worked with the district to get Roseville Area Schools to become the first awarded MN GreenStep school in the state of
Minnesota. Because they were a pilot school, GreenStep was able to sit in on many meetings to of the green team and saw firsthand how skillfully Chiara both advocated for youth concerns and listened to other perspectives. Along with other great green team members, this resulted in a truly collaborative process that reflected youth leadership and concerns and district goals and complexities. Chiara co-authored an educational story about the process that is part of the GreenStep Schools award submission and is posted on the website to educate and inspire other youth and green teams in the state.
In addition to this essential work, Chiara has also volunteered to serve on the MN GreenStep Schools Steering committee, helping to provide input to the development of the program. She has worked to educate the public, for example sharing the work of the Students for Climate action in a GreenStep booth at the Eco-Experience at the MN State Fair. She testified at the MN legislature to support policies that would promote green schools and environmental education. And she helped educate MN School Board Members about MN GreenStep Schools and youth environmental leadership when she volunteered in the MN GreenStep Schools booth at the Minnesota School Boards Association Conference in 2025.
Already Chiara has had a great impact on her green club, her school, her district’s green team, and on the work of MN GreenStep Schools through both direct local action as well as contributing to systems change. As she embarks on her career journey in environmental science, we look forward to celebrating the impact she’ll have for years to come.
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