Earth Service Corps: Making a Difference at Sehome High School

Katy Scherrer is 16 years old and is a junior at Sehome High School. She loves to travel, plays tennis and enjoys the outdoors. She will be going to Costa Rica with other Earth Service Corps youth through the Eco-Teach program this coming summer to learn about tropical ecology and also participate in a program to save sea turtles.

This past summer, I attended a retreat in the San Juan Islands put on by the Seattle YMCA Earth Service Corps, and joining me there were many fellow members of different Earth Service Corps clubs, from all around the Puget Sound. I have started an Earth Service Corps club here at Sehome High. We will be developing leadership skills, learning about the environment, getting involved in our community, and will be meeting other people from different communities and leaders from all around the Puget Sound.

Through Earth Service Corps, you can join a large network of young environmental leaders and make an important difference in your community. This club expands your learning beyond the walls of a classroom into towns, cities and neighborhoods where you live and into your air, water and earth you live on.

The new Earth Service Corps club at Sehome High School accomplished their first big project on Friday, November 5. On a Friday afternoon after school they held the “science courtyard native planting party.” We had an awesome turnout of 45 students planting a large amount of native plants in the science courtyard at Sehome High School.

In October, they had a “can you dig it party?” where they dug, ripped out the dead, nonnative plants, then made a plan for the new native landscaping. Students worked with teachers and the Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association (NSEA) to research what native plants would be best, and the native plants are now growing in the science courtyard. The project accomplished both education and environmental restoration goals for our school and club.

The Sehome Earth Service Corps is working with the national YMCA Earth Service Corps, a high school leadership and environmental service learning program, which empowers young people to be effective, responsible, global citizens by providing opportunities for environmental education, service learning, leadership development and cross-cultural awareness.

Sehome High School had an all-time record of around 60 students helping out local nonprofit organizations on Make A Difference Day this year. The Sehome Earth Service Corps had a great time making a difference with NSEA. There was a turnout of 21 students from our club who came out to the Whatcom Creek Make a Difference Day work party. Biology teacher Don Shepherd and the students helped plant trees, plants and spread mulch and made “mulch donuts” around the newly planted trees at the new Civic Center restoration site—in the pouring rain!

So far, the Earth Service Corps has planned the following activities: meeting every Friday afternoon after school, getting presentations from local environmental and volunteer groups, raising money for UNICEF, getting a bike-to-school program going at Sehome High School, setting up an effective recycling program at Sehome and working on stream restoration projects with NSEA.

A logo contest will result in a logo that will be printed on secondhand T-shirts, which will be sold to benefit the club. Later this summer we’ll be planning many more outside activities both for exploring the outdoors and helping our community. The Sehome Earth Service Corps feels more than lucky to work with NSEA in some of our first successful projects. More activities will be planned at their weekly meetings.

Alcoa Intalco has supported Sehome High School Earth Service Corps locally this year with a $5,000 grant. NSEA volunteer coordinator Nate Rice helps out with our club activities, along with teacher advisors Steve Ruthford and Don Shepherd from Sehome High School and Robert Knowles, youth adventure coordinator from the Bellingham YMCA. The Seattle Metro YMCA also provides leadership training, retreats and support for Earth Service Corps clubs in the region. Refreshments have been donated by local businesses La Fiamma, Papa Murphy’s and Rudy’s Pizzeria for youth participating in the service activities. §