Students partner with staff and administration to prepare campus grounds for future planting efforts
AHS students, staff, and administrators gathered on campus after school on February 20th to spread mulch across several open areas near the front of the school. The event was a part of a campus-wide sustainability effort led by AHS’s Science and Ecology Club in collaboration with staff and district officials.
The mulching initiative was first organized by the school’s Green Team, a group of staff members formed as part of a district-wide push to establish sustainability-focused teams at multiple school sites. Hiba Kathawala (12), Vice President of Science and Ecology Club, said, “They had this idea to remulch some of the parts on campus where the soil is lacking in nutrients, and they brought this idea to Science and Ecology Club.”
The club took on the role of organizing volunteers and publicizing the effort. “We basically helped in spreading the information and setting up the whole volunteer event,” Kathawala said. “[The Green Team] worked with the district to get the mulch dumped on our campus, and we were in charge of getting volunteers.”
The timing of the event also aligns with future campus improvements in the coming weeks. “An outside organization [Urban Forest Friends] is donating trees to the school, so we wanted to have this event right now so that the soil would be ready to have trees planted,” Kathawala said.
Assistant Principal Mr. Navarette described the effort as a joint initiative between students and staff. “This is a collaboration,” Mr. Navarette said. “The Science and Ecology Club has talked about it for many years, and our staff Green Team has prioritized this.”
Mr. Navarette also pointed to the environmental benefits of the project. “As you see around campus, there’s a lot of bare spaces that would benefit from having mulch on the ground,” he said. “Adding mulch helps to retain water and return nutrients to the soil. So all around, it makes our campus a healthier and greener place.”
The mulch used for the project was supplied by FUSD’s Grounds and Operations department, created from recycled landscaping materials. “The mulch comes from branches, shrubs, and trees that have been cut or trimmed at other schools throughout the district,” Mr. Navarette explained. “All of that has been turned into mulch that we can now use for the soil.”
Student volunteers helped spread mulch as part of the Science and Ecology Club’s event. “The work is pretty hard, though if you just put your mind to it, you can basically accomplish anything,” Seth said (Photo Credit: Aruna Harpalani (12)).
Student volunteers stepped in to help with the physical labor. Daksh Seth (12) said, “I was just walking home and saw Mr. Peffer, and since he’s a super cool guy, I was like, you know what, I’ll help him out. It was pretty fun.”
Science and Ecology Club officer Kaviya Gopalakrishnan (11) said, “I’m glad that everybody came out. It was really tiring, but I like what we did. The students are going to love [the campus] a lot more now.”
Seth described the work as mostly shoveling and spreading mulch. “The event was pretty successful—they got a lot of stuff done. I’ll probably come back the next time this happens,” he said.
Valerie Quintos (12) said, “This event was fun; it was interesting. It makes our school a lot prettier and nicer, so people can actually enjoy it. I would do it again.”
The Science and Ecology Club hopes the project will continue improving campus grounds while encouraging student involvement in sustainability efforts. Kathawala said, “This event is a really good way to show other people what they can do further [for the environment].”
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