8 Neptune High Students Create Team Devoted to Being Green
By TOM CARDINALE
After a group of Neptune High School students heard that there was a possibility the school was not recycling properly, the group of eight jumped into action in hopes of enacting a change and TEAM GREEN was created.
The name stands for Together Everyone Appreciates Mother Nature, Get Responsible and Everyone’s Environment Now.
The students are all interested in helping the environment and working toward making Neptune High School a more green school. It is the first group of its kind at Neptune High School, according to its members
The group, which consists of seniors Corey Alameida, Olivia Carbonaro, Mike Palmateer, Zach Robertson, and Erin Mcgillan, juniors Michelle Pappas and Emily Manni, and sophomore Nina Poncio, say they all heard through word of mouth that the school was not properly recycling. They approached School Principal Rich Allen about the problem.
“We came together and decided we wanted to make changes at the school,” Carbonaro said.
“Mr. Allen put us together and made us a group and let us run with it,” Mcgillan added.
Allen said when the students initially came to see him about the school’s recycling program he asked if they were there just to gripe or if they had a plan. So the group set about creating their plan to improve Neptune’s impact on their environment.
“He appreciated that we didn’t just complain and leave everything up to him,” Palmateer said.
“[We want] to establish a recycling program and become more of a green school,” he went on. “You represent where you come from, your hometown, and we all come from the earth so shouldn’t we represent that?”
“If we can do all the stuff we’ve come up with there’s so much more we can do,” Carbonaro added. “Once we get the school, we’ll spread out into Neptune.”
“We’ve always cared about the environment,” Mcgillan said, “and when we heard the school didn’t properly recycle we were shocked. If we’re going to be a school of excellence let’s do it in every aspect.”
All of the students say the environment has always been important to them and that they got their passion for the cause from their parents.
“You get it from the generation before and we can be for the generation after,” Palmateer said.
“I’ve grown up knowing to recycle and treat the Earth like your friend,” Mcgillan said.
“I’ve always wanted to take action,” Alameida added. “I thought this would be a good start.”
As of right now the group plans to meet with the necessary people to discuss the school’s recycling program.
“Mr. Allen said he’d set us up with the superintendent, he said they were questions he couldn’t answer,” Carbonaro said.
“He definitely wants to help though, which is cool,” Poncio said.
“He said we restored his faith in students,” Carbonaro added.
“I think we’re all impressed how fast things have moved,” Palmateer said. “These are all long term goals but things have really happened fast.”
The group’s other plans are to organize cleanups and plantings around the school in the Spring and to conduct assemblies at not only Neptune High School but also the surrounding elementary schools.
“The younger kids are going to want to be involved,” Mcgillan said. “If we make a field trip and we plant a tree with them they’re going to look up to us.”
“It’s all about habit,” Palmateer said. “If you’re used to dropping things on the ground you’re going to drop them on the ground but if you’re used to recycling you’re going to look for a trash can.”
The group, which has gained full support from the school and will be able to do fund-raising like any other school club, says they hope to move past just the school and have an influence over the community as a whole.
“We’re part of a bigger group outside of school so we want to take it further with us,” Palmateer said.
The group is still in its infancy, though, so specific plans have yet to be made. However, the students involved have already displayed their passion and dedication in the mere creation of the group.
“You don’t see many high school students like them,” Mr. Allen said of the students enthusiasm for their cause.
For now they hope to make sure the school gets the proper bins for recycling and that the janitorial staff properly separates the waste, something they say has been the biggest problem, saying they see the recycling and garbage being mixed together everyday.
“We need to get our school’s priorities straight,” Carbonaro said.
“If we do our part we need them to do their part,” Palmateer added. “When we leave we don’t want the recycling to end.”
“Hopefully TEAM GREEN will still be here in 15 years when we’re all gone,” Mcgillan said.
They all also plan to continue their mission once they have moved on from Neptune, saying they are all interested in pursuing careers where they can positively influence the environment either through politics or environmental sciences.
Whether the next Al Gore is among their ranks remains to be seen, but they seem to be well on their way to affecting some changes in their high school world, school officials said.
“People are in the zone of what they think is important but everything falls with no Earth,” Carbonaro said. “Earth should be the top priority.”
“This could be a really good thing for Neptune to do,” Poncio said. This would be a good thing for us to do.”
The God of the Sea himself would certainly agree.
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