Thayer students celebrate Earth Day

With spring in full swing, the end of April proved a perfect time to celebrate Earth Day. Instead of the traditional Monday morning meeting, Upper School students, faculty, and staff gathered on the front lawn of Main Campus on the morning of April 22 for the Upper School’s Earth Day celebration. 

Members of the Thayer Sustainability Club welcomed their fellow classmates to the gathering before speaking about their efforts to make Thayer a more environmentally sustainable campus. Upper School Math Faculty Derek Keough ‘12 also spoke of his time studying abroad in Costa Rica, where he developed a deep love of nature and the outdoors. 

Following the club’s remarks, the student band Dirty Water Boulevard — comprised of Josette Chenaur ‘24, Jack McCarthy ‘24, Eli Lukens ‘24, Dan King ‘27, Michael Sheehan ‘27, and Chris Williams ‘26 — played a variety of songs from Olivia Rodrigo’s “Deja Vu” to Sublime’s “Santeria,” while students tossed Frisbees and played cornhole, Spikeball, and other lawn games. The students also enjoyed fresh fruit courtesy of Chef Doug Foss P ‘23, ‘26, director of food services.

One highlight of the day was a tree planting just outside of Glover Building. Students planted a new Cherokee Chief Dogwood, courtesy of Schumacher Companies.

At the Middle School, students celebrated Earth Day at the end of the week when members of the Upper School’s sustainability club led environmental workshops there Friday morning. Rebecca Rudolph ‘24 and Sadie Smith ‘24, the club’s co-presidents, worked with Middle School World Languages Faculty Bill Lanagan P ‘25 for more than two months to facilitate the workshops. 

“I felt like this was a success because I saw so many smiles on the students’ faces,” said Rudolph. “My hope is that this will grow into a bigger event and that this will happen every year.”

Workshops included: breaking down recycled paper into pulp and recreating it into greeting cards; a competitive game of Family Feud based on Earth trivia; a cooking demonstration of a pasta dish made with local vegetables for students to learn the benefits of shopping for food locally and sustainable eating practices; using recycled materials to experiment with the fashion design process and assembling mini garments on mannequins; and learning how to stop stormwater pollution at home through an interactive marble run.