After being consistently used for years by past science teachers in their Biology and Environmental Science classes, the greenhouse at FHC has now become completely unusable. Many of the systems required to keep it running, such as the irrigation system, are broken. Weeds have grown throughout the space, crowding all paths and making it difficult to walk through the greenhouse; the dirt is also dehydrated and infertile. However, seniors Juliana Gole, Sierra Williams, Allison Meny, and all the other members of the Environmental Club recognize the disarray of the greenhouse, and they plan to make it a usable learning space again.
“In the past [two years], the greenhouse has not been in use,” Juliana said. “It’s very neglected. There are lots of weeds and debris, so we want to make it more functional and get it up and running [again].”
The Environmental Club meets every Thursday; from now until it’s finished, they plan to be working on clearing out the space in the greenhouse, taking it one step at a time. Their first steps are to completely weed it out and then clear a walkable path throughout the space. Then, the next big steps to take would be to fix all the temperature regulation systems that keep the greenhouse warm in the winter and cool in the summer.
“[Ultimately, we’re trying] to get it to a starting point so that next year [students and teachers] can start to use it and have things grow,” Sierra said.
Outside of the greenhouse, the members of the Environmental Club, naturally, care deeply about the world surrounding them. This especially applies to the school environment; many people tend to overlook keeping the school environment clean, even though students spend half of each weekday in the school building.
“I feel like people don’t really think about the things they do at school compared to their houses or in their lives outside of school,” Sierra said. “So, implementing [awareness] of your environment [at school] too [is important].”
The Environmental Club has many goals for this school year, apart from bringing the greenhouse back to life, including organizing a park cleanup. Though it is not fully scheduled yet and the details are still in flux, the intent is present. The park cleanup is just another way that the club strives to take care of the environment surrounding them.
“I think we also just spread an important message about caring for the environment,” Allison said.
Every person, whether or not they realize it, is affected by their surrounding environment. Many people are taking steps in their own personal lives to decrease their footprint, like being conscious about how much trash they produce, and carpooling. At school, specifically, a project such as working on the greenhouse is one that many people would benefit from, not only because science classes would be able to use them again, but also because it is a great learning opportunity for students.
“[Working on] the greenhouse will make an impact [on] our school community,” Juliana said, “so I think a lot of people would be interested in helping [knowing that].”
At this point, the Environmental Club has made tremendous progress towards the greenhouse restoration in only a few months. The club will continue to do these amazing things for the greenhouse and other smaller projects throughout the rest of the school year. But for right now, they are focusing on many specific things within the greenhouse.
“So far, we have fully removed all of the debris, dead plants, and roots from the soil, added doors to the greenhouse so we can get the heating system working as it gets colder,” Allison said. ”We have [also] recently been testing the PH of the different soils currently in the greenhouse, so we can evaluate and begin germinating seeds that will be placed in the greenhouse. We will be germinating seeds next week that we currently have and will start working on the hydroponic system as well.”
As the semester comes to a close, there are only so many more opportunities to contribute to the project before the new school year. Sierra, Juliana, and Allison encourage anyone who is interested in anything surrounding the environment to join the club. They can use all the help they can get restoring the greenhouse for years of science classes to come.
“I think [you should join the environmental club] if you’re passionate or interested in helping the environment and want to practice the more sustainable things,” Allison said, “such as running the greenhouse or learning about recycling and why it’s important.”
