I had an opportunity to meet Philippe Cousteau last week as part of a series of events recognizing our district’s outstanding achievement in being on the forefront of using technology for instructional integration and for reaching the milestone of one million digital educational videos on Discovery Streaming. The School District of Palm Beach County is one of only a handful of school systems in the nation, and the first school system in Florida, to reach this milestone. Listening to Mr. Cousteau speak is truly a pleasure as he is engaging and his message of environmental defense is inspiring.

Mr. Cousteau is the 29 year old grandson of Captain Jacques-Yves Cousteau. He continues his grandfather’s legacy by openly speaking and acting on behalf of the environment.

He was kind enough to pose for pictures and sign an autograph for the boys and girls in my 4th grade classes. I was excited to see that wrote “Mrs. Kolbert’s Class, You are the hope of the future. Philippe Cousteau” because we’ve recently learned about ecosystems and the food web, with particular focus on how humans often negatively impact the environment, disrupting the ecosystem and the food web.

Can you explain what he means by “You are the hope of the future?”