Recycling is Key for High School Club

Club Hopes to Create Community Change

BY KAILA KIRKPATRICK

KONK LIFE STUDENT WRITER

“Keys to be the Change is kind of hard to describe because it does so many different things,” states class sponsor Jessica Wood, a former biologist who now teaches at Key West High School. This club focuses mainly on helping the environment.

Sponsoring this club was no second thought to Wood, as she is environmentally conscious, “All these things I’m supportive of, so when it came to sponsoring the club, I was for the initiatives it came with.”  Wood has now sponsored the club for three years, and in this time, they have accomplished much to improve the environment with the help of Key West High School students and staff.

The most successful project to date is their recycling project. This included putting blue bins in every classroom for recycling paper and cardboard, items that were formerly thrown away. This “student-led service project” has been highly effective at Key West High School.

Another project they partake in is sending a group of students to Tallahassee to meet Nobel Prize winners and listen to presentations about the environment. “They also get you to participate in service activities,” adds Wood. This is an important way to show that Keys to be the Change is indeed creating change, spreading all the way to the capital, which shows the great impact of this organization.

Woods says her motto when it comes to this club is how change begins with the youth, “Whenever you try to improve your community, you start with the kids.” She believes that these students will help better our future, especially at Key West High School.

This club impacts the Key West community as well, “Everything this club does is for Key West to become a better place.” Wood continues by elaborating that not only do they help the environment, they also help students develop as citizens.

Freshman and first-year club member Vivian Carper explains, “I believe it will help me connect with my community. By helping, I can be a part of the effort to restore our beautiful island.”

Last year’s club members promote a tobacco-free initiative at Key West High School: (L-R) Brooke Ftacek, Ashley Hammon, Channing Gaufillet, Daniela Pena, and Gracie Meyer.

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