One group wants to make a learning experience applicable to students in the real world, not just in class.

That’s the goal of Green Jays, a student organization dedicated to making Creighton and Omaha as sustainable as possible.

The group is holding a teach-in from 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Feb. 22. The event will be held in the Skutt Student Center Ballroom and will feature panel discussions, with a breakout session after each one, followed by a keynote speaker.

The theme is Signs of Change, and the event itself will focus on what the United States, Omaha and Creighton are doing after the climate conference in Copenhagen, Denmark last November. The conference focused on how to continue global climate-friendly policies after the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.

Speakers at the teach-in will be members of the Creighton and Omaha communities.

Ken Smith, president of Green Jays, hopes the breakout sessions will serve as a place where students and faculty can present their research on climate issues and discuss those topics with a larger audience.

In organizing this event, Green Jays worked with Repower America and the Green Omaha Coalition, two organizations dedicated to awareness and outreach.

Even though using a catering company other than Sodexo on campus can bring a fine, lunch will be served by Blue Planet Natural Grill, which aims to be healthy both nutritionally and environmentally. Meals will cost $6 and are available to anyone.

“Sodexo isn’t the most sustainable, and food can have a lot of impact on the environment,” said Arts & Sciences junior Elizabeth Fairbairn, the group’s secretary.

Most important to Green Jays is its message that being sustainable is an easy thing to do.

“Awareness is the biggest issue when it comes to environmentalism,” said Arts & Sciences junior Sydney Hiatt, vice president of Green Jays. “People aren’t necessarily concretely aware of what’s going on, and it’s easy to ignore. So this is in your face all day, and you can’t ignore that we’ll be in the Skutt Student Center.

“Hopefully, afterwards people will be energized about what they’ve learned and will want to get involved.”

Fairbairn hopes students will be able to connect their classroom learning with the information provided at the teach-in.

“I think the point of the teach-in is that we’re spending the day learning about something else that is important — and so you’re learning about the types of things you’re learning in class and explaining them in the context of how they work in the world,” Fairbairn said.

“I encourage students to be willing to spend a day not thinking about how they need to get an ‘A’ in a class but think about how what they’re learning affects the world and what their impact on the world can be.”

Smith thinks the teach-in will be a good way to energize students who are interested in climate issues.

“It’s getting to the point where people are beginning to accept that these issues of climate change and sustainability are really real issues,” Smith said. “At the teach-in, we hope it serves as something to keep spreading that awareness, to just keep that growth of that awareness going.”

Green Jays also began constructing a community garden at the Siena/Francis House. It plans on participating in Ban the Bottle day, as well as Earth Day on April 22.

For more information on Green Jays, visit www.creighton.edu/groups/greenjays.