Worldwide, teenagers, like Greta Thunberg, the famous teen climate activist, have been turning their attention to the serious issues that affect the environment. Here at LHS, attendance at the Ecology Club meetings suddenly grew like dandelions in the spring. Last year, the Ecology Club had about 15-20 members; this year the membership has quadrupled. The question remains whether the popular student club attracted new members based on increased interest in the environment or for social interaction.

“I think there is a good combination of both,” said club sponsor, Clay Hartzler.

“ If students aren’t having a good time socially then they aren’t likely to return. If they are half in for social reasons then at least they are half in for the environment instead of all-out because of both.”

Chandler Donahey, the Ecology Club Vice President, said the club’s sudden membership growth is due to the nature of the club.

“I believe that the Ecology Club’s rapid expansion is in large part due to how attractive the club is,” he said.

“We have many volunteer and community service activities, and we are a very hands-on and engaging club. This helps to attract new members,” said Donahey.

The LHS Ecology Club cultivates area cleanups in and around the school, they collect recycling bins and maintain the greenhouses at the high school. Members take time out of their lunch periods and study hall periods to collect recycling bins from all of the school classrooms, and other members almost daily water the various plants in the greenhouses. The club members also participate in activities throughout the school year and during the summer break.

“We will have a park cleanup, campus cleanup, Envirothon (an ecology-related competition), and a canoe trip. Over the summer we typically have at least one greenhouse cleaning event,” said Hartzler.

A few of the members compete in the Envirothon; an academic competition sponsored by the National Conservation Foundation that tests the knowledge of students on a number of elements of the outdoor environment.

“Envirothon is similar to Science Olympiad, but for ecology,” explains Donahey.

“Each school can take three teams of five. They compete in test-taking at a park in hopes of moving on to the state competition.”

Teams are tested in the categories of Forestry, Wildlife, Aquatics, Soils, and Current Events.