EcoStars Blossom-By Sophia Carroll, Student Contributor

With stylish tote bags and hearts of gold, the new EcoStars club at St. Agnes Academy is blossoming into one of the biggest organizations of the school year! The girls of the club are making their mark on SAA and the world by holding successful fundraisers and starting conversations with fellow students about the environment. 

There has not been a consistently active Ecology Club on our campus for some time. Aspiring to actively spread more awareness, EcoStars Co-Presidents Ellie Schubert and Meredith Thompson took the initiative to make a change. “What compelled us to form EcoStars was the lack of work we felt was being done to better our environment by our governments, leaders, communities, and even ourselves,” they said, explaining the passion behind the highly successful organization. “We realized that the only way things are going to change is if someone takes initiative -- so we did.” 

As an all-girl student body, the Stars of SAA take inspiration from young influential female activists. Therefore, when asked about their inspirations, the Co-Presidents mentioned other women that helped ignite their passions, including activists like Greta Thunberg, Adeline Tiffany Suwana, and Maya Penn. Just like these world-changing women, the club’s intentions lie in “bettering our school community and educating students about the effects of climate change, and how we can help prevent it.”

As a result of this dedication, the year started with a huge success for the EcoStars: “We decided to start the year off with the tote bag fundraiser, because it's stylish, raises money, and helps students stray from the use of plastic bags.” Recognizing the surge in popularity of reusable bags, the two presidents proposed a tote bag drive to educate their peers on how easy it can be to incorporate earth-friendly practices into their everyday lives. The tote’s design, courtesy of the club’s Creative Director Sophia Carroll, displays the name of the club beside a charming and expressive illustrated design.

Serving as both fashionable and educational, it advertises the club in a cute and unconventional way. “The response from the students was insane!” the Co-Presidents proclaimed, in disbelief. “We were overwhelmed by how many people were excited to get their hands on these totes!” After selling over one hundred bags, the Upper School hallways are filled with these delightful totes slung over students’ shoulders. All the profits made from the fundraiser were donated to the Wolf River Conservancy, which is dedicated to keeping the Wolf River clean and its ecosystem thriving. 

After such a prosperous fundraiser, the student body now patiently anticipates the club’s next endeavor. What exactly is next for SAA’s EcoStars? “Our plans for the future are to do more hands-on activities to show the girls the difference that hard work makes, even if it's just from a small group of girls,” they shared. “We're looking into park clean-ups, flower planting, and making our own environmentally safe cleaning supplies. We're interested in making these events fun, but also a chance for the club members to learn about the climate crisis.”

For now, the leaders of the club ask the school’s student body and faculty to support their efforts and ambitions. Even a simple willingness to learn how to improve the environment in their daily lives can help create a better, more empathetic society for future generations. 

“The point of this club is to inspire change, not only in our time but for the people who will come after us,” Meredith sentimentally concludes. The inspiring young women of the EcoStars Club are not only changing the school community but also enabling others to spread the word of environmental awareness and empathy towards God’s green earth - one tote at a time.