BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — High school students in Kern County are bringing awareness and resources to educate the community on how air pollution may be impacting their neighborhood.
- What is the air quality index and why does it matter here in Kern County?
- Students with the Ford Dream Builders program installed Purple Air sensors around six different schools and district offices throughout the county.
- If you have an air quality monitor nearby, visit the Purple Air map for a look at local conditions.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
According to the American Lung Association, Bakersfield is ranked as the worst 24-hour and annual particle pollution in the United States.
“We came up with this project because we knew it was a problem in Bakersfield and we wanted to do something to help," said Shelbie Porter, a senior at Liberty High School and a member of the Ford Dream Builders program.
She is a part of a team of students looking to make a change in their community.
“The people who get in are very ambitious and very smart and very like hard working. And they serve the community very well,” said Mark Mikhail, a senior at Stockdale High School who works alongside Porter.
“We’re really trying to improve and make awareness and make the kids grow and remember this problem and maybe when they grow up and maybe go to Ford Dream Builders, they might have a [bigger] impact than we did,” said Mikhail.
Dignity Health Bakersfield helps make these projects possible.
“... they have taken something from an infancy of an idea and then seen it all the way through to completion. And that’s an incredible gift for the future, for the students,” said Lisa Jacoby, the director of mission integration at Dignity Health in Bakersfield.
She adds that members of the Ford Dream Builders team have exceeded the hospital’s expectations.
“To have the students who are so passionate about our community, about serving, especially the vulnerable, has been just a treasure,” said Jacoby.
A small sensor has a big impact in the community, providing up-to-date, localized data on air quality.
The Ford Dream Builders team purchased four of these sensors for local schools, with Purple Air, the company that makes these sensors, donating an extra two.
“It doesn’t matter who you are, you care about air quality,” said Adrian Dybwad, the founder and CEO of Purple Air.
He says these sensors not only keep the community informed on air quality, but encourages those impacted to make a change.
“If you’re breathing bad air quality for 20, 30 years of your life, you’re going to be impacted by the particulates in some way,” said Dybwad. “And so every little bit that you can do everyday can make a difference.”
The sensors update real-time information on a public map that can be accessed on the phone.
Using the Air Quality Index (AQI) the purple air monitors display information by both number and color.
Green indicates 0-50 AQI, meaning air quality is good. Yellow, which is 51-100 AQI, is moderate. Orange, between 101 and 150, means unhealthy for sensitive groups. Red, which is between 151 and 200, means unhealthy. Beyond this amount would reach very unhealthy or hazardous.
“Having information gives you the power to make those decisions and to just improve your exposure,” said Dybwad.
Rio-Bravo Greeley is one of the schools that received a sensor from the Ford Dream Builders team.
Principal Christina Bussman says it’s been especially beneficial to the school, since they are surrounded by almond tree orchards.
“Usually harvest season is the worst when the dust is in the air, that’s usually really, really bad,” said Bussman. “And then when the temperature is really high, that seems to be a trigger to air quality.”
While these monitors have been a part of the school for less than a month, principal Bussman says she has high hopes that the monitor will keep the school and surrounding community informed and safe.
“The knowledge of what is air quality and why it’s so important, especially for anybody who has any kind of respiratory issues, and just to take caution when you need to stay inside. And then when it’s a beautiful day and the air quality is great, go out and enjoy it,” said Bussman.
If you have an air quality monitor nearby, visit the Purple Air Map for a look at local conditions.
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