For the past 3 years, we've been following these young eco-activists (left) about their efforts to ban plastic straws at Dunkin. We learned about Amanda and Sophia through a story in The Boston Globe and are so impressed and inspired by their tenacity.
Learn about their journey with Dunkin by clicking on our interview below and/or read the written version further down
Do you know an aspiring young journalist? Please email us to get involved!
Learn about their journey with Dunkin by clicking on our interview below and/or read the written version further down
Do you know an aspiring young journalist? Please email us to get involved!
Amanda He + Sophia Cukras Interview
Transcribed by a Milton Student in Grade 4
Simi: Did you know that Americans use an average of 500 million plastic straws a day?
Annika: That’s enough straws to fill 125 school buses.
Simi: There’s even a national skip the straw day held on February 26 every year now which got started in 2017 by some middle school students in Michigan.
Annika: Right here in the Boston area, some middle school students have been working hard to get people to skip the straw too.
Simi: Hi, I’m Simi.
Annika: And I’m Annika. And we're journalists for Miller Academy Coaching.
Simi: Usually our coaching is at schools and libraries, but during the pandemic we’re doing short, safe coaching interviews outside like today here at Larz Anderson Park in Brookline.
Annika: Today we’re excited to meet two inspiring and empowering girls who we’ve been following for the last three years.
Simi: We learned about Amanda He and Sophia Cukras in 2018 through a story in the Boston Globe.
Annika: Amanda and Sophia had the idea to petition Dunkin Donuts about the use of plastic straws.
Simi: Welcome Amanda and Sophia. Thanks so much for joining us. We are excited to finally meet you and to learn from you today. Our first question is about your idea to petition Dunkin. How did this all get started? Was it in science class or an after school club?
Amanda: Basically it started on one of the last days of our science class in fourth grade. We were done early with classwork and our teacher handed us a magazine that we decided to flip through. We found an article about plastic straws and we noticed that it said 500 million plastic straws were used each day which surprised us.
Sophia: At the time we were also part of our school’s Earth Club and there we kind of learned about how the leader of the club previously started a petition. The journey of actually going there and meeting along with the range of radio to local tv station interviews that were held. I think it was a one of a kind experience.
Annika: So where do things stand today with your petition? I noticed a goal of 200,000 signatures and you are getting close with almost 170,000.
Amanda: We still have that goal of 20,0000 signatures and even though the petition rate isn’t going as high as it used to, we are still trying to make an effort in our own communities. For example, in our school we are both part of the student council at one point where we try to push for a more sustainable school. We want to install solar panels, and reduce the amount of plastic used at the cafeteria.
Sophia: I think even though it's slowing down we would be happy if there was a follow up thing we could do or anything adding on to that or relating to that. After that meeting with Dunkin Donuts it became a little more resolved. That was mostly our end goal.
Simi: This is kind of relating to what Amanda said. For both of you, what action steps do you think we can take at school and in our communities to do better for the environment?
Amanda: I think one thing anyone can do is try to follow, reduce, reuse, and recycle, the three Rs. Let’s say you get an iced coffee every morning and you get a plastic straw with that. Do you need your own plastic straw? Or can you bring or buy your own metal straw and use that? And you can reuse stuff and recycle and compost which would be a big help for the environment.
Sophia: There are a lot of little things that people can do. Amanda and I went for a bigger thing with the petition but just like she said, the recycling and considering the waste you’ve been using….and I also think that, especially kids, should not be afraid to put their ideas out there because in the end it is mostly our generation that will be the one making change, especially with the increasing climate change throughout the world.
Amanda: No matter what age you are you can still make a difference and everyone can somehow reduce the waste we use.
Annika: A few years ago in Needham Public Schools we did something similar where a lot of kids were going around and signing petitions for banning plastic straws and it seems like it's gone pretty far since then. At the end of our interviews we like to ask questions, like fun fact questions, so that is what we are going to do right now. What are your favorite ice cream flavors?
Sophia: I really like cookies and cream.
Amanda: I like mint chocolate chip.
Annika: I also like mint chocolate chip.
Simi: I love cookies and cream.
Simi: If you could go anywhere in the world that you’ve never been, where would you go and why?
Sophia: I like the idea of tropical islands like Bali. It seems super serene and relaxed.
Amanda: I also would go to a tropical island and I would go to Bora Bora.
Annika: I would probably go to Hawaii or Bermuda because I’m also into tropical islands and warm places.
Simi: I’d probably also go to a tropical island because I like the heat and it’s really serene.
Annika: What are your favorite sports?
Sophia: I do a lot of swimming, mostly out of school on a club team.
Amanda: I like to play squash both in and out of school.
Annika: I play different sports at different times of the year. I really like soccer in the spring, basketball in the winter, and tennis, golf, and swimming in the summer.
Simi: I play soccer on her (Annika’s) team. I love playing soccer and I'm also on a swim team too. I haven’t been able to swim as much this past year because of COVID this past year but I’ve done swimming a lot too. Who is an inspiring girl or woman you admire and why?
Amanda: One of the girls we admire is Greta Thunberg because she’s an environmental activist and she is only a teenager. We found it really inspiring how she started skipping school and protesting every Friday to speaking at the UN and catching the attention of the whole world.
Annika: I really like Greta Thunberg too and I also like Alicia Keys because she’s speaking up for Black Lives Matter and she’s really an inspiring and thoughtful woman.
Simi: I find Greta Thunberg really inspiring because she showed us all that not just adults could make a change but kids can also make a change.
Annika: Well thanks so much for joining us today, Amanda and Sophia. We look forward to following you in the future to see what you are up to next.
Simi: And to our viewers and followers thanks for watching! If you’d like to produce an inspiring interview of your own or to learn more about our coaching go to milleracademycoaching.com and cruise around the ChangeMakers tabs to learn more!
Annika + Simi: Thank you. Bye!
Transcribed by a Milton Student in Grade 4
Simi: Did you know that Americans use an average of 500 million plastic straws a day?
Annika: That’s enough straws to fill 125 school buses.
Simi: There’s even a national skip the straw day held on February 26 every year now which got started in 2017 by some middle school students in Michigan.
Annika: Right here in the Boston area, some middle school students have been working hard to get people to skip the straw too.
Simi: Hi, I’m Simi.
Annika: And I’m Annika. And we're journalists for Miller Academy Coaching.
Simi: Usually our coaching is at schools and libraries, but during the pandemic we’re doing short, safe coaching interviews outside like today here at Larz Anderson Park in Brookline.
Annika: Today we’re excited to meet two inspiring and empowering girls who we’ve been following for the last three years.
Simi: We learned about Amanda He and Sophia Cukras in 2018 through a story in the Boston Globe.
Annika: Amanda and Sophia had the idea to petition Dunkin Donuts about the use of plastic straws.
Simi: Welcome Amanda and Sophia. Thanks so much for joining us. We are excited to finally meet you and to learn from you today. Our first question is about your idea to petition Dunkin. How did this all get started? Was it in science class or an after school club?
Amanda: Basically it started on one of the last days of our science class in fourth grade. We were done early with classwork and our teacher handed us a magazine that we decided to flip through. We found an article about plastic straws and we noticed that it said 500 million plastic straws were used each day which surprised us.
Sophia: At the time we were also part of our school’s Earth Club and there we kind of learned about how the leader of the club previously started a petition. The journey of actually going there and meeting along with the range of radio to local tv station interviews that were held. I think it was a one of a kind experience.
Annika: So where do things stand today with your petition? I noticed a goal of 200,000 signatures and you are getting close with almost 170,000.
Amanda: We still have that goal of 20,0000 signatures and even though the petition rate isn’t going as high as it used to, we are still trying to make an effort in our own communities. For example, in our school we are both part of the student council at one point where we try to push for a more sustainable school. We want to install solar panels, and reduce the amount of plastic used at the cafeteria.
Sophia: I think even though it's slowing down we would be happy if there was a follow up thing we could do or anything adding on to that or relating to that. After that meeting with Dunkin Donuts it became a little more resolved. That was mostly our end goal.
Simi: This is kind of relating to what Amanda said. For both of you, what action steps do you think we can take at school and in our communities to do better for the environment?
Amanda: I think one thing anyone can do is try to follow, reduce, reuse, and recycle, the three Rs. Let’s say you get an iced coffee every morning and you get a plastic straw with that. Do you need your own plastic straw? Or can you bring or buy your own metal straw and use that? And you can reuse stuff and recycle and compost which would be a big help for the environment.
Sophia: There are a lot of little things that people can do. Amanda and I went for a bigger thing with the petition but just like she said, the recycling and considering the waste you’ve been using….and I also think that, especially kids, should not be afraid to put their ideas out there because in the end it is mostly our generation that will be the one making change, especially with the increasing climate change throughout the world.
Amanda: No matter what age you are you can still make a difference and everyone can somehow reduce the waste we use.
Annika: A few years ago in Needham Public Schools we did something similar where a lot of kids were going around and signing petitions for banning plastic straws and it seems like it's gone pretty far since then. At the end of our interviews we like to ask questions, like fun fact questions, so that is what we are going to do right now. What are your favorite ice cream flavors?
Sophia: I really like cookies and cream.
Amanda: I like mint chocolate chip.
Annika: I also like mint chocolate chip.
Simi: I love cookies and cream.
Simi: If you could go anywhere in the world that you’ve never been, where would you go and why?
Sophia: I like the idea of tropical islands like Bali. It seems super serene and relaxed.
Amanda: I also would go to a tropical island and I would go to Bora Bora.
Annika: I would probably go to Hawaii or Bermuda because I’m also into tropical islands and warm places.
Simi: I’d probably also go to a tropical island because I like the heat and it’s really serene.
Annika: What are your favorite sports?
Sophia: I do a lot of swimming, mostly out of school on a club team.
Amanda: I like to play squash both in and out of school.
Annika: I play different sports at different times of the year. I really like soccer in the spring, basketball in the winter, and tennis, golf, and swimming in the summer.
Simi: I play soccer on her (Annika’s) team. I love playing soccer and I'm also on a swim team too. I haven’t been able to swim as much this past year because of COVID this past year but I’ve done swimming a lot too. Who is an inspiring girl or woman you admire and why?
Amanda: One of the girls we admire is Greta Thunberg because she’s an environmental activist and she is only a teenager. We found it really inspiring how she started skipping school and protesting every Friday to speaking at the UN and catching the attention of the whole world.
Annika: I really like Greta Thunberg too and I also like Alicia Keys because she’s speaking up for Black Lives Matter and she’s really an inspiring and thoughtful woman.
Simi: I find Greta Thunberg really inspiring because she showed us all that not just adults could make a change but kids can also make a change.
Annika: Well thanks so much for joining us today, Amanda and Sophia. We look forward to following you in the future to see what you are up to next.
Simi: And to our viewers and followers thanks for watching! If you’d like to produce an inspiring interview of your own or to learn more about our coaching go to milleracademycoaching.com and cruise around the ChangeMakers tabs to learn more!
Annika + Simi: Thank you. Bye!