Changing the world at HHS
In a world where environmental concerns are at the forefront of global discussions, our very own high school is dedicated to making a change in our community through our Environmental Club. Advised by Jeannie Kornfeld, students have come together and are committed to fostering a sustainable future. Through the club’s constant effort, they have and will continue to engage actively in recycling and composting and come up with solutions aimed at creating a positive environmental impact both within our school and the Upper Valley community.
To get some insight into what goes on in the Environmental Club, I talked to the club leader, Virginia Adams (24′), to learn what it’s all about. In past years, Adams has been involved in activities to promote the well-being of our environment, such as leading a small group to pick up trash on a trail behind our very own school. “We (Environmental club members) noticed a lot of trash along the side of the roads and in the woods, so we decided to change that by taking trash bags outside with us and picking up all the trash we could find on the trail behind the school¨ (HHS).
Currently, Virginia and her team are working on a climate action plan that would be applicable to the whole school district to decrease our carbon footprint. “To start, we sent surveys out to students, teachers, and family members about their commute to school to try and calculate some of our emissions. Once we did that, we started meeting with the principals of all the schools in the district to try and get our climate action plan to pass, which essentially reduces our footprint little by little each year until we have fully developed into a school system that uses as little emissions as possible.” It sounds like an easy yes. However, the action plan requires a lot of funding that has to come from somewhere.
She finished our conversation with one last message for the students of HHS: “Don’t forget to compost, recycle, and bring reusable water bottles to school every day. And don’t forget to sign up for Earth Day this spring!”