Watauga High School Takes Steps Towards a Sustainable Future

Members of Watauga’s Sustainability Club visit local thrift shops in search of t-shirts to use for screen printing. From left to right: Athena Elliott, Elliot Holcomb, Madeleine Woodworth, Neave Tuberty, Marisa Willis, Holden Womack, Riley Ellison, Iyla Freed, Eleanor Cornell, and Lilla Heath. The club thrifted shirts for the printing to ensure more waste was made by the activity. Photo cred: Athena Elliott

Carrie Bradbury, Review Desk Lead

The Sustainability Club has brought together Watauga High School students of all ages to work together in order to make both the high school and local community more sustainable. Club officers Athena Elliott, Lilla Heath, Elliot Holcomb, Iyla Freed, and Neave Tuberty take the lead, spreading sustainable habits and creating environmentally focused events for students to participate in. All five officers work together to ensure that the club runs seamlessly and successfully. 

The importance of having a sustainability club is clear: making the high school environmentally friendly and teaching sustainable habits that can be done at school and at home. What is less apparent is why each of the five officers joined the club and why they felt the passion to take on a leadership position. In one case, senior Iyla Freed wanted to be a member and leader of the club out of a desire to serve both the school and its students. 

“I wanted to be a member and officer so I could be more involved in making our school a more sustainable environment,” said Freed. “I think it [Sustainability Club] is important because the school needs to be educated on the state of the planet. We all live on one earth together, so we have to take care of it.”

For the Sustainability Club, education takes the form of experience gained through service projects. Service projects for club members are a key part of the club. While Freed has worked on coming up with new projects, she has also kept a large focus on returning to projects from the past. 

“I hope one day the club can bring back plastic lunch trays instead of styrofoam,” said Freed. Plastic trays would be multi-use rather than disposable.

Sustainability Club has had multiple projects focused on systems within the lunch room that have benefited the students and the environment equally. In addition, they have also done successful service projects for systems within the school community, mainly the science classrooms and exterior of the school, providing students with many opportunities to get involved. Service and volunteerism were key focuses for senior Athena Elliott when she decided to step into the officer position. 

“I think having a sustainability club in the high school is important because we are able to provide students with a lot of projects to help make our school environment more sustainable,” said Elliott. “Which is something that I think really needs to be focused on.”

Getting new members and more attention from the public is not always as hard as it may seem. Watauga High School is full of students interested in sustainability; they only need to join the club to unlock a way to practice it. This was the case for Elliott, and she continues her work within the club with the hope of finding students with a similar passion for the earth as her own. 

“Sustainability has always been a big part of my life,” said Elliott. “My mom was an environmental science teacher and always incorporated that idea and lifestyle into our lives.”

The goals of all Sustainability Club officers are similar; however, their motives all differ slightly. This is the case for senior Elliot Holcomb whose dedication differed somewhat from the other officers and stepped into the position due to experience. 

“I have been in the club for all four years of high school, and I realized that now that I am a senior, I wanted to give back to the club in a way,” said Holcomb. 

Holcomb finds that creating projects for students to work on is what really keeps the club going in terms of membership and reminds high school students of why sustainability is relevant to all. 

“We have been struggling to get more recognized throughout the school, and so trying to get [Sustainability Club] more out there is definitely something that I have been trying to do,” said Holcomb. 

Moving towards having more attention from students and the community is a constant goal of the club, but throughout the years, that goal has changed form. Getting funds for the club is one of the hardest, but most important things, to get more recognition. Club officers have organized fundraisers in order to raise money for current and upcoming projects.

“A few years ago, the club was able to get in touch with a sponsor from Stick Boy Kitchen to raise money for water bottle filler stations,” said Holcomb.

In order to make sure that the club continues to have connections to businesses and organizations outside of the high school, the officers keep constant communication. While this is a split job between all five officers, as President, senior Lilla Heath takes the lead.

“I’m the President of the Sustainability Club, and what that entails is making sure that the whole club is on track, and taking the time to look into opportunities within the school and within the community,” said Heath. “I think as a club we also want to prioritize getting involved in already existing organizations in our community, and in the county in general.”

Heath finds that sustainability doesn’t have to be a thing that just lives within the parameters of the club, but can also affect people throughout their whole lives. Having a club at the high school makes sustainability feel more doable and less daunting for students.

“I think having a sustainability club is important because it’s so essential in our community,” said Heath. “So many people, being part of Western North Carolina, have found interest in environmental aspects of careers and sustainability, and so I think it’s a great step up from that.”

Forming connections to people within and outside of the high school is a focus of the senior officers, and for a good reason. However, the only non-senior officer has a different goal in mind. Junior Neave Tuberty is looking to the future with one goal in mind: legacy.

“I am the Vice President, so I work under [Lilla],” said Neave. “I am the only junior officer, so a lot of the time, I help do everything behind the scenes a little bit.”

Creating long-lasting projects that can be continued no matter who is leading the club is what Tuberty is most passionate about. The club's recently successful project, screen painting t-shirts with the club logo, has inspired officers to come up with more projects that can be continued for years to come.

“It was just a more sustainable way to create merchandise for the club and be able to show people that you can reuse or repurpose things instead of creating more waste,” said Neave. “And what’s great about it, too, is we kind of set up a tradition that will be carried on for years to come in the sustainability club.”

While being a member of the Sustainability Club has obvious benefits for high school students, Tuberty is looking to next year. 

“Having a foundation in sustainability is important for really any job,” said Neave. “As we’re towards unseen circumstances that a lot of people are not happy about, we need sustainability in every industry. It’s not just environmental scientists anymore, so I think having a broad foundation is really important.” 

In the theme of moving forward, planning for the future, and ensuring a legacy in the Sustainability Club, Tuberty is also working with the other officers to look for connections and opportunities outside of the high school. 

“I think trying to go out more into the community is going to be a really big thing next year, and having more volunteer opportunities," said Neave. “When people see what our work is actually doing for the community, it means a lot more than just saying it.”