In a world increasingly aware of environmental challenges, West Seattle High School’s Earth Club is doing everything they can to bring awareness to the rising issue of climate change. As the school’s most popular club, Earth Club has brought much attention to their agenda and goal. “Earth Club’s goal is to create a fun space to encourage students to learn about environmental issues. We hope to inspire people to participate in ways to conserve our Earth!”, Madi Krehbiel, the president of the club states. The club keeps their meetings fun and entertaining while discussing serious issues regarding the future of the environment.
While the club usually has a good number of members attending their meetings, there are a few events they hold that bring a large amount of participants. For instance, the garlic bread bake off. This competition is one of the most attended meetings Earth Club provides throughout the year. The battle consists of teams competing against one another to create the best garlic bread, often using supplies from the garden the club cares for in the back of the school. The leadership team of the club judges the final products and announces a winner. This meeting is a great example of how the club gets the school community together and boosts participation from their attendees.
Another event that is one of Earth Club’s most popular is the Lincoln Park restoration project held on the third Monday of January. “Every year, we host 2-3 park restorations. Our most consistent one is on MLK day, which we do in partnership with NHS at Lincoln Park. Last year’s restoration got roughly 60-70 students’, reports Lizzy Greene, a junior officer for the club. The project focuses on restoring any plants and nature that could have been affected within the park. This helps get members of the club more involved in the West Seattle community.
The club also focuses a lot on bringing the wider West Seattle neighborhood together, especially by giving back to the community. In spring of 2023, the club hosted a concert within the high school’s courtyard. This allowed for local student bands to perform while donating all the profits they collected to the West Seattle Food Bank. This event was a great way to give back while spreading the word about their club.
They often hold smaller, yet notable meetings as well. These can consist of parking lot clean ups, sorting clean trash to bring awareness to recycling, crafting with natural resources and recyclable materials, and much more.
While so much focus goes to what the club is doing in the present, what are their goals for the future? “In the future, I hope we are able to push our school in more ways to be sustainable”, Madi says, “Eventually it would be awesome if we are able to compost paper towels in the bathroom”. Focusing on projects to better the community has always been a mission for the club. However, they also put their attention to what they have done in the past that’s been successful. “A future goal is to bring back the Earth Club concert, potentially on a larger scale! We don’t know too many specifics yet, but we have a Hiawatha Concert in mind, hopefully at the end of the school year”, Lizzy explains. This allows for the club to develop themselves while not forgetting their previous events.
Keeping their message alive is a crucial step in continuing the legacy of the club. If you can, try to find time to stop by room 262 every Wednesday at 2:30pm to learn about how you can impact the environment for the better!
