The first thing I noticed when I entered room 178 to attend the ecology club meeting was how well-decorated the marine-themed room was. There was a huge fish pillow directly in my line of sight as I opened the door, there were stickers of sea animals on the walls, and there was my favorite thing of all: a fish tank.

When more people came into the room, the club started discussing an upcoming field trip to go seal watching at a local beach, but this trip was exclusively for invited members of the club.

Another topic discussed was posters for anti-pollution. They showed us slides of other posters about this topic so we could have inspiration. I sat with my friend and drew a picture of a fish stuck in a plastic Ziploc bag. I tried to show that it was supposed to be underwater, but I don’t think I succeeded in conveying that message.

One member, Melody Almonte, a 12th grader, told me what she thinks of her experience in the club. “I enjoy the people and the connections I’ve made thus far. Mr.Schuster is also a super cool advisor. I also really love how we incorporate helping the environment, and also having fun doing so.”

Having students involved in protecting the environment is beyond important because they’re learning how to preserve the environment that we have left. While still quite young, ‘Generation Z’ (our generation) is becoming more and more involved in current events, such as climate change increasingly frequently.