There are some days you will never forget. You hear the date and remember sights, sounds, feelings, etc. For most Alabamians, one of those dates are April 27, 2011.

On April 27, I remember the power going out when getting ready for school. Then getting to school and trying to figure out where everyone was and the chaos when I walked through the doors. I’ll never forgot the next 24 hours of pure stress and fear. Before it was all over, entire communities were destroyed and 249 people in my state lost their lives. It is a day I will never forget.

So imagine my feelings when I watched this:

Day after day I get on my soap box and tell anyone who will listen why we need to integrate STEM into our classrooms. I give reasons like, preparing them for their future, raising problem solvers, or even showing how STEM can actually support Common Core. But this right here, it puts it all into reality.

Our world is changing so fast. Usually we see this as a good thing. But it isn’t always. The Earth of 1915 and 2015 are not the same. Heck the earth of 1965 has gone through so many changes. Our future needs a society of people who not only understand these changes but the causes of them. And they not only understand, but they are looking for ways to stop the decline of our environment. We need to teach empathy along with problem solving so they understand why we need to take care of the Earth then come up with best ways to protect it. A society that understands science and the world they have been given will be more likely to find ways to restore it and prevent the deterioration of it. Train these students to think like engineers and they can change the world. Change it to a world we want to live in.

We don’t know if this theory is 100% true. But what we do know is that 249 people died and that pollution can have adverse effects on our Earth. We know that pollution is preventable. And I know I never want to experience another April 27.