The Beach Conservation Club focuses on environmental protection and educates students on ocean pollution and other marine issues. Seniors Vivian Wang, Sophia Perrella, and Gwen Koplan founded the Beach Conservation Club during their sophomore year with a clear vision and purpose. With access to beaches, they decided to take advantage of the opportunity to support environmental protection.
Wang says that environmental protection became a major issue when she started the club two years ago. Perella said, “I’m interested in environmental science and we thought it would be a good way to show that interest.” Senior Natalie Rane joined the club last year and is now vice president. Rane creates presentations on ocean conservation and organizes monthly beach cleanups with the club members.
The club educates students on critical environmental issues and marine pollution during school hours. They foster awareness about aquatic ecosystems through engaging, hands-on lessons. The club meets bi-monthly on Wednesdays in physics teacher David Talcott’s room, where they conduct presentations on relevant topics and plan upcoming events. They often incorporate fun activities like Kahoot games and provide snacks.
Oftentimes, the club will go to Alameda Beach to help clean up. The beach cleanups are the biggest part of the club. Over the weekend, they clean up, hang out afterward, and get dinner together. Rane said her favorite part about the club is that they “get to actually go to a beach and do hands-on cleanup and see the effects rather than just learn about it in a classroom.” Perella said, “We all know each other so it is a pretty fun thing.”
The club also tries to build a community by putting together monthly beach cleanups. Vivian said, “I love the community that we have both with our friends and people that we weren’t originally close to.” Rane said there are a lot of effects on the local species around beaches so it is important to keep them clean.
In addition to beach cleanups, the club also hosts fundraisers. Later in the year, the Beach Conservation Club will hold a fundraiser to spread awareness about marine conservation. The next beach cleanup will be sometime in February, but the date has not yet been finalized. The goal for the next cleanup is for more people to get involved. Wang said the cleanups are a great way to see the effects one can have on a local community. Everyone that goes to the cleanups gets volunteer hours as well.
