Middle Township High School Students Rock for the Planet

COURT HOUSE – Clean Ocean. Save the Whales. Reduce Reuse Recycle. No More Elephant Poaching. Renewable Energy.
Middle Township High School (MTHS) students had big wishes for Mother Earth, and they expressed them on a poster that stretched across half the school’s cafeteria during the sixth annual Green Concert Festival April 24. Organized by the Go Green Club, the event featured half a dozen MTHS musicians, as well as a silent auction, live animal displays and recycled craft projects.
“I want to make everything greener at the school,” said club president Natalie Hand. “I like that we got solar panels. For the world, I want to get the message across: more carpooling, more recycling, more bike lanes. There are so many ways we can go green, but Cape May Court House is not aware enough.”
Hand isn’t just spouting catchy environmental slogans. The senior will be headed to Fort Myers, Fl., this fall to attend Florida Gulf Coast University, which she proudly points out is ranked as the fifth greenest college in America. But she’s concerned that most colleges aren’t making students aware of their green accomplishments, so that prospective students don’t consider a school’s greenness when making decisions.
Across the room, Andrea Sarmiento was warming up on her guitar. She was the opening act for a lineup that included local band Signs & Signals, as well as students Brinley Edwards, Kelsey Blum, Hannah Catanoso, and Slim DT, according to event coordinator Mark Gabriel.
More than a dozen local businesses donated merchandise to the silent auction. Gabriel said that proceeds would go to a charity that helps provide clean water to villages in Third World nations. Last year, the students’ efforts helped purchase a water purifying unit for a Guatemalan village.
Mia Panzini was doing what you’d expect of a high school student: taking a picture of a diamondback terrapin hatchling and sending it out on Snapchat (a popular smartphone app). She knew that the black tubular barriers along local roadways were there to prevent the turtles from crossing the highways, but had shown only limited success.
As after-school sports ended and more students came to the cafeteria, Hand seemed optimistic about the future. “The world is going to change,” she said. “Technology is advancing. The world is changing.”
To contact Phil Broder, email pbroder@cmcherald.com.