By Bella Butler EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
BIG SKY – Freshmen students from Lone Peak High School presented to a community audience Wednesday on local sustainability projects they had worked on throughout the spring.
In the fall, a
community member suggested that secondary science teacher Dr. Kate Eisele apply
for a grant to support such projects for the students. Eisele, who has tailored
her ninth-grade science class to focus on environmental science, found the idea
complementary to her syllabus and applied for a grant through the Yellowstone
Club Community Foundation. She was awarded $2,675.
Eisele’s class
separated into six groups, each one aiming to tackle a unique sustainability
issue in the Big Sky community. Upon completion, the student groups presented
to a panel of judges comprised of a YCCF representative, a school employee and
a community member working on a sustainability issue. The judges chose three
winning groups whose projects they found to be the most influential, and the
winning students received cash prizes divided up from the grant.
The students
identified issues from water conservation to microplastic pollution. Each group
set a general goal and lined out an approach. One group of seven students focused
on the unnecessary use of single use plastics. Their primary goal was
education, particularly of young kids, which they achieved by creating a
recycling game for elementary students.
“The best way
to educate the community is to educate the people who will soon be our future,”
one student said during the presentation.
Another smaller
group presented on their initiative, titled “Splash,” which looked to address the
problem of overexertion of water resources in Big Sky. The semi-arid climate of
Big Sky leaves the community to rely heavily on the snowmelt from the previous
winter, but with more and more residents and individual overuse, the snowmelt
is being used quicker than it can be replaced in the town’s aquifer, the
students told the audience. The group surveyed students in the school to find
out how aware classmates are of the “Big Sky water crisis,” as the group called
it. Their survey showed that approximately 60 percent of youth in the school
was unaware of the issue.
In order to
provide information to the community, they hung posters around Big Sky,
interviewed for an article in the Lone Peak Lookout and brought in Stephanie
Lynn of the Gallatin River Task Force to present to their class on water
conservation.
Eisele was
happy to offer the monetary incentive to her students, but she hopes the
semester-long endeavor will leave a more lasting impact.
“I’m trying to
influence young people, because if they develop good habits and awareness now,
hopefully that’s going to continue into their future and hopefully they can get
their families and their friends to make changes, too,” Eisele said.
YCCF added an
additional $100 to the cash prizes to accommodate the larger winning groups.
The winning
projects and group members are listed below:
1st: “Micromission.” Team members: Kassidy Boersma, Ace
Beattie, John Chadwell, Madison Perdue, Carly Wilson, and Robert Pruiett
2nd: “Splash.” Team members: Samantha Suazo, Dani
Cristando, and Deryn Bagley
3rd: “Stay Hydrated.” Team members: Nate McClain, Sophia
Cone, Libby Flach, Rayna Smith, Tristen Clack, Sirle Garcia, and Charlotte
Wilson.
