Clubs of Conant: Green Cougars
Being home to 80+ clubs ranging from cultural awareness to academic competition, Conant really does have something for everyone. In this series, the Crier will help spread the word about lesser-known clubs in the hopes of helping students find where they belong.
Conant Cougars Instagram The Green Cougars club is Conant’s version of the “stereotypical environmental club.” With weekly Wednesday meetings, the Green Cougars discuss topics they are passionate about: anything from controversial fast fashion to the presence of lead in the bottoms of certain popular metal water bottles.
Another important part of the Green Cougars initiative is their dedication to event planning. Jenifer Garcia-Reyes, ‘24, recalls that her favorite part of her involvement with the club is, “seeing the product [of their events] pay off” and recalls that her favorite event of the year was the Pumpkin Smash event that was hosted in November.
The event allowed for those with extra pumpkins lying around from Halloween to repurpose them as environmentally-friendly compost, instead of just throwing them into the trash and making more unnecessary waste.
Events similar to this are what the Green Cougars are all about. Since April is regarded as “Earth Month,” members of the club have helped decorate the halls and organize a plastic bag drive which took place for the entirety of the month. All of the donations that they collected will be recycled into a park bench in a local forest preserve.
Current member Teodora Stefanova, ‘25, values the plastic drive initiative, as it serves as environmental education for the Conant community. “People learn through our advertising that plastic bags are not recyclable and we, the Green Cougars, get to provide an accessible way for our school community to correctly recycle plastic bags.”
Green Cougars Instagram The Green Cougars hung up engaging decorations in order to teach and remind students about Earth month and the importance of recycling.
Green Cougars Instagram After a successful plastic drive, the Green Cougars collected 140 pound of recycling!
Next on their agenda is to create a butterfly garden here at Conant, which will be made possible in conjunction with the science department, namely the AP Environmental Science classes. As the project is approaching, the club will be looking for people to help rake and plant in order to prepare the ground for the garden.
The Green Cougars’ sponsor, Mrs. Zara-Brito, EL department, has held the position in the club since its inception in 2019, when “a group of very passionate students came to ask if [she] would be willing to sponsor them,” and she was excited to take them up on their offer because “[she is] very worried about the environment and the effect that we are having on it.”
Zara-Brito’s vision for the future of the club focuses on finding more passionate members, “I think mainly we want to get more students involved to make sure that the club keeps on going and that we can continue to do our share in being environmentally conscious.”
If you are interested in joining the Green Cougars in their mission to do good for the environment, reach out to Zara-Brito at [email protected].
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