The Environmental Club, started by President and junior Adaly Tapia, is a group that meets every Thursday during lunch in Mr. Van Sickle’s room. Members discuss issues relating to the well-being and preservation of the environment to discuss problems the environment faces and figure out steps students can take to help reduce those problems.

“It’s kind of sad that the world is deteriorating, so anything that I can do to help, like starting an environmental club and educating my fellow classmates about it, is good,” Vice President and junior Sophia Shhadeh said.

Members Coral Smith and Christina Jauregui, both sophomores, were drawn to the club and the cause it supports. “I joined Environmental Club because it is a good cause,” Smith said. In regards to the club’s group service environmental efforts, Smith added, “I … believe that we’re going to be setting up some beach clean-ups, which can obviously help the environment.”

Both Smith and Jauregui have also learned ways to aid the environment in their daily lives. “We were given tips [by Tapia and Shhadeh], like to get a reusable water bottle, [and] we have a garden,” Jauregui said.

The club garden was completed at the beginning of December 2016 by the president and vice president of the club, along with the help of some fellow students. “We got to help plant the plants after all the irrigation was done and the boxes were built,” Shhadeh said. They planted kale, cilantro, artichoke, carrots, broccoli and various other vegetables in the wooden boxes located just outside of Coach Sherlock’s room.

The Environment Club hopes to begin a movement that will change the way humans interact with the environment and its organisms. If you would like to contribute to their cause, you can join the Environmental Club on Thursdays during lunch and learn about how to preserve the earth.