LFHS Environmental Activists Form Gardening Club

by Audrey Urbis

With shovels in hand, a wide array of plants, and a team of eager environmental enthusiasts, the Los Fresnos High School Gardening Club will soon bring new growth to the campus greenhouse.

The LFHS Gardening Club intends to plant more than just seeds of plants on campus. They also hope to sow seeds of environmental awareness and responsibility.

Club president Lauren Spier remembers how the club originated. “We were taking an AP Biology class together, thinking about what we had learned and thought, ‘Why not start a Gardening Club?’ ”

The club has the dual mission of promoting both sustainability and outdoor recreation on the high school campus. It began because of a shared passion for the environment and growing plants.

“Our plans are to beautify the school grounds, promote sustainability, and educate the campus on growing plants,” said Club vice president Viviana Obregon.

Ultimately, Spier said, they intend to “nurture a love” for the environment among the LFHS student body and faculty. “The vegetables produced will be donated to a local charity or possibly used in a Food Science class offered at the high school.

The organization’s sponsors, Biology teacher Miriam Rivera and Food Science teacher Martha Kennedy, have played a crucial role in forming the club.

“We’re so thankful for both of them,” Spier said. “They’ve done so much to help get this project up off the ground and make this a reality.”

Club members express appreciation for their passion and enthusiasm. Incorporating the concepts the members of the Gardening Club have learned in classes such as Advanced Placement Environmental Science and Advanced Placement Biology, students will be growing both native plants for aesthetic appeal and tending a vegetable garden for more practical purposes.

Rivera said the new club is joining a national movement towards developing sustainable and productive community gardens.

“My students recognized a need and thought about how they could apply what they learned in class outside of the classroom,” Rivera said. Those who have come on board are a diverse group of students who are very interested and hands-on. Many teachers have shown their support as well.”

Summoning all the green thumbs on campus, the club has piqued the interest of many curious students, many of whom have an affinity for the sciences. “Our numbers are increasing each meeting as students hear about what we’re doing,” Spier said.

Clark is hopeful of adding another dimension to the club. “We hope to integrate composting on the school campus. All of the composted organic wastes can be utilized for gardening purposes. We can make use of what’s being thrown away.”