On Friday, September 7, Fossil Ridge High School’s FRESH Club held both their kickoff meeting and a relaxed movie night to welcome new members and celebrate with returning ones. The lunchtime meeting had a large turnout, partly as a result of its occurrence directly after Club Rush earlier that morning. The movie night, while having fewer in attendance, was great fun for all involved. About fifteen old and new members alike gathered to screen Wall-E, and laughed and cried their way through the film together.

During the meeting, FRESH Club’s board provided free pizza, doughnuts, and drinks for new members. Room N104 was packed, with students filling every chair and lining the cabinets that surround the science room. Once every student was settled with lunch, the board began to explain the aims of the club and what they hope to accomplish for the year. One of the board members, senior Gabriela Carcasson, explained that the core goal of FRESH Club is to “educate and inspire a lot of students at Fossil… through our different events, Ignites, and just learning more about environmental sustainability and how to kind of live that life, even in high school.” Carcasson continued, adding that high schoolers often believe that there’s nothing they can do for the environment at their age, and that FRESH Club attempts to help the school community understand that their actions do matter and that they can make a difference.

The board of the club then introduced themselves. For the 2018-2019 school year, seniors Emily Drysdale, Rujuta Idate, and Emi Gorges represent the club portion of the board. However, FRESH Club’s biggest event of the year is the annual Environmental Leadership Summit, at which students from all over Northern Colorado come to Fossil and listen to keynote speakers and presenters about topics related to environmentalism. Last year, over three hundred students attended, along with many community members. Due to the scale of planning for such a large event, there is also a separate Summit board, consisting of seniors Carcasson, Maddy Chong, Cole Mason, and junior Kelsey Byrne.

Next at the meeting, Gorges delivered an Ignite presentation to model ones that are often given at the bi-monthly FRESH Club meetings. Her topic was environmentalism after high school, particularly in college and the workplace. During the five-minute presentation, she covered topics such as majors at Colorado’s colleges and careers that those can develop into, such as environmental science. Gorges also covered volunteer opportunities with groups that operate across the United States and globally, such as the World Wildlife Fund and the Sierra Club.

Finally at the meeting, the board discussed the club’s lettering policy. Any Fossil student can letter in FRESH Club, a major perk that had the whole class clapping, provided they accumulate 110 points by attending meetings, giving Ignites, or volunteering at events. One can get enough points to letter simply by attending nearly all of the club’s meetings, which occur every other Friday at lunch in room N104. For more information, students should text @freshcl to 81010 to sign up for the club’s Remind.

After school, meanwhile, FRESH Club hosted a screening of Wall-E in the roundhouse at 4 pm. Popcorn, pastries, and lemonade were all provided, and the children’s movie provided an insightful look at a future version of Earth – one in which it is covered in trash and is uninhabitable by humans. All plant life has died, and humans have been forced to live out their days on space ships. All students in attendance laughed plenty, while sombering at the movie’s most poignant moments.

The film tied in well with FRESH’s aims as a club, and board member Chong explained that she feels like being in FRESH has really helped shape her. Being around people who thought the same way she did and knew more than her helped her knowledge and passion for the environment grow. She added that, “three years ago, ask me anything and I didn’t know it. But now, I’m like plastic police… now I want to do environmental things in college and in my career.”

FRESH Club’s next meeting will be on September 21 in room N104 at lunch. The club would love to see any students who are passionate about the world that they live in there.