Jestine Lackner

Balancing two part-time jobs while building Sustainable Classrooms hasn’t been easy, but moments like surpassing our Idaho Gives goal remind me why this work matters. From early morning calls with our team in Togo to late nights after work, this journey continues to teach me about purpose, resilience, and community. Sometimes life looks different than we imagined — but that doesn’t mean we’re off course.

When we launched Sustainable Classrooms, we set out with a bold and dual mission: to expand access to education while combating plastic pollution through innovative building solutions. From the beginning, we knew this work would not be easy. In fact, we embraced that reality, because meaningful change rarely comes without challenge. Our first classroom in Togo was always intended to be a pilot project. Not just a structure, but a learning process. Recycling plastic into durable, safe, and...

A reflection on our first full year in Togo and a look into 2026.