In recent years, Sutton High School has developed a strong Environmental Club led by Science teacher, Deb O’Neil. Environmental Clubs are very beneficial to schools as it empowers students to help and do environmental projects and activities to help our environment. 

Here at Sutton High School, we have a group of dedicated students willing to help out in our community to create a stronger environment. 

Environmental Clubs have gained attraction through High Schools across the country. This club is important as it helps create a standard for the younger students as it teaches them how to care for the environment and community they live in. 

Recently, I interviewed Ms. O’Neil to discuss the importance of the Environmental Club and what they have done.

First off, I asked How would you describe the environmental club? 

“The Environmental Club is a fantastic group of high school students who are trying to educate others about things we could do to help the environment and taking local action on it.”

This group of students are dedicated to helping our community become a better place by working together on many service projects. Environmental Clubs are a great thing for schools as they help make our local community a better and cleaner place. These students work together to bring awareness to our school as they try and influence our community in a positive way.

Ms. O’Neil started this club about 4 years ago to help bring awareness to our environment in our local community.

Ms. O’Neil is excited to share what this club has done to help our environment and community. “Every month we keep thousands of pounds of textiles out of the waste stream and we recycle them and we get refunds. This is because that material is sold and we do trash cleanups. We are head-starting threatened turtles to try and keep that species from becoming extinct.”

The Environmental Club has made great strides as they are looking to better our community in many aspects. Whether it is a trash clean-up or trying to save threatened turtles this club is making a positive impact in our community.

Here at Sutton High School, we see many students get involved in a variety of activities, but the students involved in the environmental club are dedicated to making our environment a safer place. Ms. O’Neil does a great job connecting with her students and she has a great group of students willing to learn about the environment and what they can do to help our local community. 

Over the years Ms. O’Neil has seen the environmental club change positively. “Students have become more active and more interested over the years.” The Environmental Club is always seeking new members to become part of their club to bring awareness to our environment.

The last question I asked Ms. O’Neil was do you have any ideas for your next service project? 

“This year we are focusing on the health of bees and pollinators, in the spring we are going to educate and help the pollinators in the environment.”

Katie Wright is the President of this club and she has taken on the responsibility with open arms.

The first question I asked Katie was why she wanted to become the President of this club.

“I wanted to contribute more to the club and make a difference in my community. Being a part of any type of environmental field, whether it be in a club or a professional setting, can be pretty depressing at times. I was constantly hearing really sad and disappointing news about our environment. Instead of standing by and listening, I wanted to do something about this problem, even if it was on a smaller, community level.”

Katie Wright is one of the most hard-working people out there and she devotes her time to try and find ways to better our environment and the community around us.

I followed up by asking what the President of this club does.

“This is really a team effort. All of our officers contribute a lot to our efforts in making our community a cleaner and environmentally healthier place. I think that maybe one difference that I have is more experience, and I can contribute advice to my fellow officers and members. We brainstorm ideas together that usually include cleanups, school and community activities, and how to educate our community about environmental issues. Some of my ideas that we carried out include advocating for bees this year, putting a bulletin board outside Ms. O’Neil’s room, establishing the social media pages, and some other exciting school activities that will be taking place later this school year”.

The final question I asked Katie was how long have you been representing this club?

“I’ve been a part of this club since freshman year. From being a part of it that first year, I knew that I wanted to do and contribute more to the club. So, I became secretary my sophomore year. My junior and senior years I have been president”.

In the world we live in, we face many environmental issues that need global awareness here at Sutton High School Ms. O’Neil has done a great job with the club understanding what is going on in the environment around us.

I appreciate the time I was given to interview both Ms. O’Neil as well as Katie Wright. Learning more about the Environmental Club was very interesting as this club is a very helpful resource for our community that many people may not know about. I highly recommend looking more into this club if you are interested in helping and learning more about the environment.