The students huddled around the sign up sheet eager to join the new club. Ludan Ahmed, a senior in the GSWLA, stood at the front awaiting them to take their seats, hopeful for the success of the new club and her outlet of teaching about environmental sustainability. Unfortunately, among finding the hours to get enough sleep; being sure to eat at least 3 meals a day; and fill every free moment catching up on the latest The Roaring Gazette articles it may seem difficult to lend a helping hand to the ever-changing environment within one’s free time, thus, the foundation of the Tallwood Environmental Club.

Ludan Ahmed is intrigued by preservation-related topical issues, so she went to Ms. Trevino, the GSWLA Ecology/ Biology teacher, to inquire about the possibility of starting the club. She informed her that it was rather “renewing” the club, for a club similar to the “new” club was founded about four years ago on Tallwood’s campus.

Ludan was eager to start the club due to her strong interest in the environment. She mentioned that she just recently started “reading more into environmental issues,” and was “absolutely shocked and in awe.” After educating herself on the topical issues of sustainability and such issues, she decided that she “wanted to continue this on with students in my own school.”

Despite the amusement of bringing a new student-run club to Tallwood High School, Ludan felt as though the environmental club, simply known as Tallwood Goes Green, would bring the interested students together that want to make effective greener changes to their school and community. “I wanted them to be shocked. I wanted them to learn,” she said.

Additionally, in an interview after the first week of meeting, she proclaimed that the success of participation in the club will make “small improvements in their life that genuinely can ameliorate our environment and its prosperity.”

Hopefully, Tallwood Goes Green will bring awareness of sustainability and conservationism to the high school students. “It’s very important to take action and prevent environmental problems,” claims Victoria Edlan, a student that attended the brief meeting.

Throughout the first meeting, Ludan hooked her audience by presenting statistics which highlighted concerning topics of our global environment, for instance, the amount of plastic straws disposed of in one day. According to Sophie Rubsamen, a senior in the GSWLA, “I actually learned a lot of new things about how plastic impacts the environment and I was shook. I really liked the meeting.” Ludan hopes that the successful turnout from the first meeting will continue, and possibly even expand, throughout the rest of the school year.

Additionally, Ludan and Mrs. Trevino have planned many volunteer opportunities and potential links with local environmental organizations in order to expand upon opportunities.

Ludan and Mrs. Trevino discussed the following opportunities that’ll be offered to students: volunteering to clean up at the surrounding bays in coastal Virginia, learning about and creating homemade, waste-free products, and much more. Sophie Rubsamen showed strong interest in continuing her involvement in the club. “It was super interesting and I’ll definitely continue because it’s a good cause and we’d be doing cool things,” stated Rubsamen.

Luckily, this meeting will have many more meetings throughout the school year. Ludan Ahmed assures that she will continue to “advertise the club on her Instagram Story”.

She hopes that the meetings will affect students positively and spread awareness, for “it comes back to us in some way, shape, or form.” As a new addition to Tallwood High School’s branch of clubs, Tallwood Goes Green will make an impact on one’s curiosity of the global, national, and local environment because “one person can make a difference, but we can make an impact,” according to Ludan.

If any are interested, Tallwood Goes Green meets on Mondays in room C211 during Lion Lunch!

Click here to access other articles in Volume 4, Issue 1 of The Roaring Gazette.