Thursday, April 21, AWHS’ Students of the Environment Academy – Doing Integrated Studies Curricula (SEA-DISC) upperclassman academy held Earth Day celebrations at the senior tree during lunch, in collaboration with non-profit organizations from around the Bay Area. The activities included live music, food trucks, tie-dye, face painting, along with SEA-DISC students presenting their Energy Solutions and Endangered Species Website projects. 

Earth Day is an annual international event held on April 22, and marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement. Its core purpose is to bring awareness to environmental issues affecting the planet. 

In creating the schoolwide Earth Day event, SEA-DISC students and teachers hope to not only spread awareness and educate people on environmental issues, but to also show that caring about the planet can be fun.

“Our goal with this is to really show that caring about the environment and fighting for a better future can be fun and cultural, it doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom. We’re really trying to hold up diverse voices and show that there are people from all different backgrounds all around the world fighting for environmental change and everyone can find a little way to get involved themselves,” said SEA-DISC history teacher Michael Rawlins. 

The groups set up tables all around the senior tree and presented their projects to students participating in the Earth Day activities. The students aimed to refine and share their ideas with the community in order to make positive environmental changes. 

“The goal is to raise awareness and spread our projects because this project, the energy project, is for making change in our community. So we’re spreading awareness and getting our peers support and celebrating because the earth is a beautiful place,” said junior SEA-DISC member Tayleigh Birkie.

The early release for lunch at 11:30 a.m. allowed students to engage in the interactive activities and purchase food from the food trucks. Students like sophomore Allegra Di Carpegna believe that the different tables were beneficial in showing the process of improving the quality of the earth. Allegra enjoyed celebrating Earth Day due to the unique factors of each booth and how it made learning about the earth more engaging.

“In the future I would definitely like to see a lot more of these events because they bring the school together and it makes everybody feel like they are a part of something that is working towards improving sustainability,” Allegra said.

SEA-DISC will continue to promote sustainability for the school, beyond just celebrating Earth Day each year. The academy intends to follow through with more projects, and hopes for continued support from the school community to help achieve their goals.