See kids, families, and city leaders fill Parkrose Middle School with EVs, bike rides, art, and hands‑on activities – as Portland’s main Earth Day 2026 celebration came to East Portland …
From the start, guests visit with various organizations, as “Earth in Motion – Earth Day 2026” at Parkrose Middle School gets underway.
Story and photos by David F. Ashton
The rain cleared late Saturday morning, April 11, just in time for the City of Portland’s hosted event, “Earth in Motion – Earth Day 2026”, at Parkrose Middle School that afternoon.
The free, family‑friendly kickoff to Earth Month focused on how transportation, energy, and food systems shape the climate. We learned that focus from the organizer, City of Portland Chief Sustainability Officer Vivian Satterfield.
The day brought together more than 50 exhibitors from nonprofits, community organizations, and government, Satterfield pointed out – offering residents a chance to see electric vehicles, learn about micro‑mobility and Nike BikeTown, access soil and lead testing, and to connect directly with city programs.
One of the many programs featured included Nike BikeTown.
Satterfield told East Portland News that Earth in Motion grew from a recurring question she heard from community organizations: “What is the City of Portland doing for Earth Month?”
She said that she realized multiple Bureaus were already running climate and sustainability programs, but the public often didn’t know about them. The Parkrose celebration was designed, she said, to be more “community‑facing”, and to connect residents with “the great work that’s already happening in the city.”
Standing at a row of electric vehicles used by the municipality, here’s City of Portland “Chief Sustainability Officer” Vivian Satterfield.
Continuing, Satterfield described Earth in Motion as a way to gather many of those efforts into one place. “Exhibitors include nonprofits, community‑based organizations, and City Bureaus sharing information on cleaner transportation options, home energy and electrification, food systems, and environmental health.”
Serving a free meal is Milk Crate Kitchen Program Development Coordinator Gretchen Cope.
The three-hour celebration featured an “EV Tailgate Party” powered by the Portland Clean Energy Fund (PCEF), an Earth Day Kid Zone, and free lunch from Milk Crate Kitchen – a food‑recovery nonprofit. The Multnomah County Environmental Health Department offered lead testing and free on‑site screening of yard and garden soil, or painted items.
A new “BikeTown Station” at Parkrose Middle School is also unveiled on the Cafetorium stage.
Scheduled activities included speeches from city elected officials, as the event kicked off – leading up to a PBOT Earth Day Bike Ride, and new “electric street sweeper” demonstrations.
Mayor Keith Wilson talks climate challenges
Mayor Keith Wilson decries “global warming trends” and brags about Portland’s “lower emissions”.
Mayor Keith Wilson was there and used his remarks to connect local action to global climate trends.
Pointing “to our mountain just to the east,” he said that Mount Hood now has “50% fewer glaciers than 100 years ago,” which he attributed to “man‑made pollution, carbon, and unchecked emissions.” He warned that projections show “60% of the West Coast’s snowpack” could disappear by 2050, with major consequences for water, farming, and recreation.
At the same time, Wilson emphasized, “We’ve reduced emissions in the City of Portland by 26% compared to 1990 levels… We’ve reduced emissions 38% [for city operations]. Put in perspective the Paris goals, where we’re supposed to reduce emissions by 50% by 2030: we are almost there.”
He highlighted a shift at City Hall, where a planned gas‑powered replacement for the Mayor’s vehicle – that is, after Satterfield questioned – and the Mayor will soon be chauffeured in a seven‑seat electric Kia EV9.
Council Members’ remarks: Clean energy and equity in outer East Portland Equity
He arrived at the event by electric scooter, says District 1 Councilor Jamie Dunphy.
Council President and District 1 Councilor Jamie Dunphy welcomed attendees to Parkrose “where my daughter goes to school”, and remarked that he arrived on an electric scooter from nearby.
Dunphy said climate work was no longer “a small, finite office that does climate‑friendly work,” but was being built into “how we do the work.” He added, “When we talk about repaving, we’re thinking about climate change. When we design a new building, we’re thinking about the future of our climate. It’s not an extra thing we do – it’s the way we do the work.”
Additionally, Dunphy underscored the importance of the Portland Clean Energy Fund (PCEF) for green job opportunities and infrastructure, pledging – as Council President – to “protect PCEF dollars from being treated like a ‘slush fund’.”
“Environmental injustice” is the theme of Councilor Candace Avalos’ remarks.
The next speaker, Councilor Candace Avalos, focused on “environmental injustice” in East Portland.
She startled some with her remark, “Our district, out of every other district, has a 10-year life expectancy less because of environmental injustice, and yet we make our way to our families, to our community events, our beautiful parks.” Avalos tied that to “decades of decisions about where we invest and who we invest in” – citing unreliable transit, pothole‑ridden streets, and concerns about air quality.
Avalos said East Portland residents “deserve safe transit lines, safe bike routes, maintained parks and greenery, rentals that are up to code, safe homes, and clean air,” and argued that investments must be prioritized “where we need it the most.”
Schools on the Front Line: Parkrose Superintendent Lopes Serrao
Older schools in the district are difficult to keep temperate, says Parkrose School District Superintendent Michael Lopes Serrao.
Parkrose School District Superintendent Michael Lopes Serrao described how climate change and aging infrastructure intersect in local schools. He said that Parkrose Middle is the district’s newest building, while Parkrose High is nearly 30 years old, and the other schools date from the late 1940s, ’50s, and ’60s. Deferred maintenance, he asserted, is a major challenge – especially as regards heating and cooling.
Specifically, Lopes Serrao informed, “our elementary schools do not have heating and cooling,” and even at the high school, “the HVAC system ages and it doesn’t work as effectively,” so without support from the Portland Clean Energy Fund, Parkrose would “have to kind of suffer the consequences” of those worsening heat events.
Built in 1947, Prescott Elementary School faces heating and cooling challenges, the district’s Superintendent, Michael Lopes Serrao, notes.
The Portland Clean Energy Fund is helping the district pursue more resilient solutions. Lopes Serrao said: PCEF dollars are enabling Parkrose to explore geothermal systems and HVAC improvements for elementary schools and support projects like a natural learning space at Parkrose High School, where students “re‑energized a natural space” that is now used as a classroom environment.
He also highlighted Safe Routes to School in an area where walking and biking have historically been unsafe. On NE Shaver Street, he pointed out, students currently walk down the middle of the road after school. A long‑awaited sidewalk project is finally moving forward, which he said will allow kids to walk and bike more safely and reflects the kind of sustained investment the district needs.
Why Parkrose: Councilor Steve Novick
District 3 Councilor Steve Novick explains his ties to Parkrose.
In answering why he traveled out of his area to the celebration in Parkrose, District 3 Councilor Steve Novick pointed to his long connection with the community. He recalled coaching the Parkrose Constitution Team in 2008, and going door‑to‑door in 2011 to support the bond that built Parkrose Middle School – a measure that, he said, passed by “something like seven votes”.
Taken together, the remarks expressed at the Earth in Motion celebration sketch a picture of what outer East Portland residents hope for, concerning where the city Portland concentrates its climate efforts.
On our Front Page: Volunteers Shawn Irish and Steph Irish remind visitors that the East Portland Tool Library is open for the season (on Wednesdays and Saturdays) and ready to help.
© 2026 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News™
