We’re Stronger Together! The Environmental/ Pay It Forward Club join forces
The Environmental Club has been a club at Xavier High School for many years. Likewise, the Pay It Forward Club, with the help of Mrs. Nina Salzwedel, was a COVID shutdown brainchild of students in AP Biology. The two clubs joined forces last year to build a stronger club focused on education and service to the community. The new club combo has certainly made an impact!
The club aims to bring environmental awareness to students and to give them the opportunity to take on an active role to help the environment and to pay it forward to future generations. In its inaugural year as a combined club, club members worked to educate students about common environmental issues throughout the year. Emphasis was placed on the holiday season since the beautiful time of year also creates additional environmental challenges. The club greeted the season with its “Twelve Days of Environmental Facts” to call attention to the issue at hand, reaching beyond the thrill of pretty paper, curled ribbons and stacks of boxes. Another major focal point for the club was Earth Day. The club hosted a week of activities including: • A Nature Photoshoot Contest • Footprint Art, in part of a “Three Small Steps” assignment • Prayers for the Planet with a Bible lesson • A Recycling Game and QR Scavenger Hunt Xavier students enjoyed Earth Day cookie treats and learned about eco-friendly foods with a plant-based meatball taste test in Mrs. Kelli McGreevy’s Foods class. The informative week was capped off with a garbage pick-up. The club is stronger together and periodically organizes park clean-ups, too. In the future, they hope to include compost bins, a hydroponics lab, and solar panels.
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X, The Xavier Magazine
• Winter 2022
How YOU Can Make a Xavier Difference! For the 2021-22 school year, the theme is plastic bag waste. The club will be working with NexTrex and participating in a plastic bag recycling contest. There will be a drop off area at Xavier High School in hopes of collecting plastic bags. The bags will be recycled to create a bench from the recycled waste. The contest will run from November to April. The goal is to collect around 40,500 bags, which is around 500lbs. of plastic! Follow the club on Instagram at XHS_Thinks_Green!
