2 Hours with 45 Students in the Heart of Kathmandu

Koteshwor is one of the busiest, dustiest parts of Kathmandu, and the students at NJSN School live that reality every day. We spent two hours with 45 students to see if we could turn their daily frustrations with heat and pollution into a real understanding of climate action.

What We Noticed: Urban Kids See Things Differently

Usually, when you talk about climate change, kids think of melting ice or polar bears. But at NJSN, the kids immediately talked about the dust on their school blazers and how hot their classrooms get in May. Because we had two full hours, we didn't have to rush. The first hour was spent playing with our climate UNO cards and SDG flashcards to get the basics down. The second hour was the real eye-opener. We asked them to imagine a "Koteshwor of the Future." Instead of just drawing trees, these kids were sketching rooftop gardens on concrete buildings and ways to catch rainwater from their school roof. They aren't just thinking about nature; they are thinking about how to fix their city.

The Results: It’s Working

We saw a 45% jump in their quiz scores from the start of the session to the end. That is a huge leap for just 120 minutes. It shows that when you stop lecturing and start playing, the information actually sticks. By the end, almost every student could explain what SDG 13 (Climate Action) meant for their own neighborhood. They went from feeling like "the weather is just bad" to "we can actually design a better city."