Larkspur Girl Adds Her Voice To The Cause

Young Caroline Miskovsky has a powerful voice, one she hopes will help change the world.

The Larkspur 11-year-old sweeps listeners off their feet with her divine singing, which she has honed with the San Francisco Girls Chorus. The San Domenico School fifth-grader also adds her voice to the global challenge to save the Earth. Miskovsky won an international competition with her essay "My Idea of a Carbon-Free Paradise" recently and will tour China with other winners in an exchange of ideas about reducing pollution.

With the encouragement of her teacher, Carly Klein, Miskovsky will take her winning ideas to Chongqing, China, the fastest-growing city in the world. Scientists there are already working on solutions to the environmental problems that go along with such growing pains.

San Domenico eighth-grader Anjali Bodony of Fairfax was also a winner and will visit China, May 13-20. San Domenico is the only school invited from the United States. Students from Canada and the United Kingdom will also join the trip. 

Contestants were asked to share the following: 

• A personal essay “What Living a Low Carbon Lifestyle Means to Me”

• How they put that lifestyle to practice

• A letter of recommendation from their teacher

• A video about Low Carbon Living 

The topic was an easy one for Miskovsky, who learned an important environmental lesson at an early age.

"Low carbon living is a big part of my life. My dad works at a solar company. We compost and recycle," she said. "I'm also the founder of the Butterfly Fund on Martha's Vineyard, which teaches awareness about buying local and preserving the environment."

Miskovsky turned her thoughts into action three years ago when she started raising scholarship money for the Butterfly Fund through a lemonade stand. Miskovsky raised $600 and "that's a lot of cups of lemonade," as she said. The money went to help send children to camp at the Farm Institute on Martha's Vineyard, Mass.

She collected the money in the same jar that she once used to watch a caterpillar emerge from its cocoon as a "beautiful black butterfly with yellow and blue spots," Miskovsky recalled. "It was an amazing experience. … Amazing to watch this little thing grow into a graceful, giant butterfly."

Miskovsky is making it her goal to help transform people's lives and the world through lessons in green living.

"The school has inspired me in a lot of ways. I moved here from Boston and it's such a huge difference between how environmentally active people are here," she said. "In the school garden, the Garden of Hope, we learn how to be eco-friendly. We raise fruits and vegetables. We just made a pizza oven out of clay. It's just amazing. They teach you how to be kind to the environment."

Her parents, Michael and Kara, were thrilled to find San Domenico School, which seemed to fit into their lifestyle. Michael Miskovsky works at Zep Solar, a startup company in San Rafael.

San Domenico recently has been recognized as a Leading Edge School in Sustainability by the National Association of Independent Schools and uses the largest school solar installation in the county. San Domenico describes its mission "to make the school’s campus a model of sustainable practices for the community by serving locally grown produce in the dining hall, purchasing products with recycled content, installing efficient and renewable technologies, and continuing to set an example of integral sustainability in all facts of life and education on campus."

Miskovsky has found a cause in helping to save the planet, but she's also found a calling on the stage. She first heard the San Francisco Girls Chorus perform in 2009 and knew right away she wanted to be a part of that world. Miskovsky has performed at Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco with the choir and is striving toward joining the professional touring group.

"It just changed my life. It really made me think about music differently and it's inspired me to do so many different things," she said.

Caroline will blog about her trip May 13-20 while she's in China, so check with her blog and the Larkspur-Corte Madera Patch for updates.