ESI Club helping the community, environment

Mason Alberto, Staff Writer

The Manhattan High Environment Science Investigations club is planning to help the school be more environmentally friendly while reducing the negative impact school waste has on our community.

The club is district wide and all of USD 383 is involved. But MHS is the only student-led club for ESI in the district. Some of the staff of USD 383 talked about the idea of creating a club that helps the environment and eventually talked it into existence.

“It’s all about making the school more environmentally friendly,” Bronwynn Bliss, sophomore, said.

One popular idea they’re planning for this year is making various composting projects in certain district schools. ESI is going to use school waste onsite to create compost and grow food. The club’s ultimate goal is to use the compost to grow food that could be used right here in our own cafeteria. To produce compost, the club will use food scraps from the MHS cafeteria and other school waste. Then, the compost will be used to help enrich the soil for plants while effectively reducing greenhouse gases and methane production which helps the environment.

Another well-liked idea with ESI club members is creating a monarch waystation to attract butterflies to parts of the school to be studied. This is done by planting certain plant species that monarchs are attracted to in an area like the commons. When the monarchs migrate, they find a place where they can rest and stay, almost like a highway reststop. While the monarchs stop at West Campus, it will give students and staff the chance to study the animals while helping them on their way to and from South America. It also helps the monarchs better survive by stopping at a safe place to refuel before heading off to their next destination. This could give multiple classes throughout the school the opportunity to learn something about monarchs like, how they are attracted to certain species of plants or their path of migration. The ESI club was created nearly three weeks ago and it already has people excited about it.

“All of the members are very intelligent and are passionate about making a difference,” Clancey Livingston, club sponsor, said.

The time to join is now because it’s the very beginning of the club. This is the club for you if you’re passionate or interested in the environment and diversity of ecosystem.

If you are intrigued about joining ESI club, you can visit Livingston in room E-141 for more details. It’s $2 to join the club and the meetings are every Wednesday during Advisory and move time.