By Mya Trujillo
Krish Kabduwal and Mackenzie Okabe never imagined they could write “published author” and “published illustrator” on their resumes before graduating high school. Still, the duo from Hayfield Secondary School recently gained those titles in October with the publishing of their children’s book “Let’s Clear the Air.”
The 32-page book features a whimsical art style and a mystical plot to introduce young children to three types of renewable energy: solar, hydro and wind.
The work is a testament to the two 17-year-olds’ passion for and commitment to educating the public, especially younger generations, about the severity of climate change and ways to mitigate its impact during a time when climate progress is at risk due to federal cuts.
“Soon enough, the younger generation will be our new CEOs, government officials, and researchers, so it’s important to teach them while they’re young on the topic of climate change,” Mackenzie told The Informer. “Even though the Earth may seem okay now, in the future, if we don’t make continuous efforts to ensure our ecosystems are healthy, the damage may be irreversible.”
“Let’s Clear the Air” follows the main protagonist, Dr. Leo, as he tries to help a mother doe rescue her fawn from the main antagonist Grubble, who represents nonrenewable energy and practices that are harmful to the environment. Dr. Leo travels the world and learns from other animals about renewable energy, then uses that information to help transform Grubble’s factories into sustainable energy sources and save the trapped fawn.
Krish regularly tutors and teaches science, technology, engineering, arts and math (STEAM) classes to children. After teaching the kids about air pollution and lung health, he realized they knew little about non-renewable and renewable energy. When he saw that his local library didn’t carry any children’s books about the topic, Krish decided to change that.
“We need to make people more aware,” he told The Informer. “We’re not bringing enough attention to climate change, so I feel like… we need to be educated and we need to be more aware and conscious about that so we can start voting for politicians who care and make that a part of their campaign.”
Combating Climate Change, One Lesson at a Time
The education of children worldwide is at risk, as extreme weather events intensify due to climate change.
According to an analysis by the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), at least 242 million children around the world experienced disruptions to their education due to climate-related events in 2024.
As the planet’s health deteriorates due to increasing temperatures and fossil fuel emissions, and funds continue to be withheld for both environmental initiatives and public education in the U.S., climate education is more crucial than ever. This prompted members of the Geneva Global Hub for Education in Emergencies (EiE Hub) to write a joint letter to world leaders and stakeholders, urging them to center their conversations around children’s education during the 2025 COP30 climate summit.
“Education is a powerful tool to tackle the climate crisis,” wrote EiE Hub members. “Making education systems more climate-responsive will help create safe and effective learning environments and ensure learning continuity, while equipping students with the skills, knowledge and mindsets to promote climate-resilient families and communities.”
While Mackenzie and Krish aren’t world leaders, they’re children who have grown up on a warming planet and have witnessed firsthand the effects of climate change and who want the masses to take preventative measures and safeguard the environment. Despite their young age, they’re making strides toward shaping the future they want for themselves and generations to come.
Krish recalls seeing less snow in Virginia over the last decade. He also acknowledges that global temperatures have risen throughout his adolescence– experiences that have fueled his commitment to environmental consciousness and his desire for people to start taking action before it’s too late.
“We need to be thinking about our future in the next 50 to 60 years, but we also need to start thinking about our children’s futures and their children’s futures, and what the world’s gonna look like,” Krish said. “The [older] people, they’re not gonna be alive to see what happens, but we will be.”
Mackenzie was drawn to being an environmental steward and joining Krish in creating “Let’s Clear the Air” after taking the Advanced Placement (AP) Environmental Studies course during her junior year. She was pleasantly surprised by how much she enjoyed the course and the value of the material learned.
“Learning about our planet and the societal impacts of nature really inspired me and Krish to create this book,” she told The Informer.
The duo’s creation of the children’s book is clear proof that environmental education leads to the climate resilience necessary to reverse its impacts and create a sustainable Earth. Now that they’re well-educated on climate change and its impacts, the two high school seniors are well-equipped to educate younger children, continuing a healthy cycle of learning, teaching and, in turn, sparking advocacy.
By creating a book about topics as complex as climate change and renewable energy, and making it tangible enough for children to understand, Krish and Mackenzie have played a part in supplying future generations with the building blocks necessary to acknowledge and combat practices harmful to the planet.
Through literature and art, the duo is advocating for a greener future.
“Art is political and I will die on that hill,” Mackenzie told The Informer. “Visual art is reciprocated by any person regardless of language, culture or age, and so using it as a platform to promote important topics such as climate change is so powerful to making these issues accessible to a wide range of people.”
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