The Campbell Reporter
Cover Story
Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Amanda Baker, an officer in the Students Promoting Awareness of Recycling & the Environment Club, listens as teacher Matt Zehner welcomes officials from Go Green Initiative who are visiting the school to consider the high school as a model for other campuses.
Seed Money
Branham's gardens grow out of recycling proceeds
By Emilie Crofton
Anthropologist Margaret Mead once said, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
That phrase couldn't be truer than at Branham High School, where one student club, Students Promoting Awareness of Recycling & the Environment, or SPARE, has transformed the campus from bleak to beautiful, grabbing the attention of government officials and environmental programs.
"We never thought this would get so big and spread out into the community," says senior Krystal Mills. "We've been working on this for a long time now, and we're seeing the results of our all our hard work."
SPARE's ultimate goal is to make Branham a carbon-neutral school and serve as a model to other school campuses across the nation.
The efforts of the club have now caught the attention of Campbell Union High School District and government and state officials.
On Nov. 2 the high school was visited by officials from Go Green Initiative, a program meant to create a culture of environmental responsibility on school campuses.
One hundred and fifty government and school officials toured and inspected the school as a model for recycling and its Adopt-a-Garden program.
The club, led by social studies teachers Matt Zehner and John Salberg, has established a recycling program for the school where cans, bottles, paper, cardboard, ink cartridges, cell phones and other e-waste are recycled throughout the campus.
Last year the school recycled more than 24,000 pounds of e-waste and 1,300 pounds of scrap metal, reducing its solid waste bill by more than 20 percent, Zehner says.
But it's what the club does with the money that is most impressive. Using their recycling proceeds, the club puts all the money back into beautifying their school.
"I just got tired of hearing that there's no money for schools," Zehner says. "We've been able to raise thousands of dollars with money that's literally just laying around."
Three years ago SPARE created the Adopt-a-Garden program, where different clubs, teachers and parents can adopt a section of the school for a garden and keep it maintained.
Today there are more than 10 adopted gardens, including the ASB, Paradise, Zen, and Spanish gardens, all created by the students in SPARE.
Each garden contains mostly native plants and flowers that require little water. The program has become so popular that there's currently a waiting list for future garden adoptees.
Students in SPARE say they are thrilled to see this green vision spreading throughout the rest of the school.
"Now there's peer pressure to recycle and clean up the campus," says senior Kandice Harmon, 17, "but it's a good kind of peer pressure."
It's the seniors at Branham who have seen the greatest changes on campus since their first year in high school, when most of the school grounds consisted of dirt and dust.
"My freshman year the campus was a barren and desolate wasteland full of trash and seagulls," says senior Stephen Hogan. "Now it's beautiful. I'm proud of how our school looks."
Planting a seed
Students say their inspiration to make Branham green came from Zehner, who five years ago created SPARE, originally called the Recycling Club.
"I wouldn't call myself a tree-hugger, but I've always recycled and been into ecological issues," Zehner says. "It's just inefficient and foolish not to recycle."
In its first year the club included Zehner and one student. The two would go around campus picking up recyclable items.
"I just find it odd that teachers are supposed to teach students how to be responsible, but so many schools don't even have a recycling program," Zehner says. "If you lead, people will follow."
And follow they did. Today the club boasts 80 members, the second largest club on campus.
"I need to hire an entire staff now to keep things going," Zehner says with a laugh. "Every year we keep on growing."
Salberg, who Zehner describes as a "big believer in community service," jumped on the recycling wagon two years ago, today handling most of the construction and carpentry that goes into the beautification projects.
"John has been a huge part of SPARE's success," Zehner says.
On top of the proceeds from recycling and e-waste events, Zehner has helped bring in more money with grants, including a $10,000 "A + for Energy" grant from BP.
The club is using part of the money to design lessons on climate change that will be taught as part of school curriculum.
Students say it's Zehner's infectious hard work and dedication that inspires them.
"Mr. Zehner is the kind of teacher that you remember for the rest of your life," Kandice says. "Everyone here respects him so much."
Growing success
As the club's popularity grows, so do its environmental projects.
Some of SPARE's projects include planting more than 50 trees around the school, and its adoption of part of the Guadalupe Creek. Future projects include installing solar power panels on the roof and experimenting with worm composting. In 2008 SPARE will purchase 26 hectares of Amazonian rain forest to offset the school's carbon emissions.
"The students are what make this club so successful," Zehner says. "They work so hard and are dedicated to making a difference not just on the school campus but out in the community as well."
As a reward, students in the club go on field trips every other month that include camping at Big Basin Redwoods State Park, hiking, canoeing and cave exploring.
"It's a reward, but the students also become more aware and see how our actions affect the environment," Zehner says.
One of the club's environmental projects will be especially meaningful to the Campbell Union High School District community.
SPARE is currently working on the Branham Memorial Grove along Dent Avenue, an area that was previously largely ignored.
"It was an ugly and blighted area. The street had litter, graffiti and broken glass," Salberg says. "It was mainly a community dumping ground."
The 450-foot by 45-foot lot will become a park and memorial honoring all the former graduates of the Campbell Union High School District who have fallen in America's wars.
Students say it will serve as a reminder to value not just the environment, but human life.
"It awakens students to what's really going on in the world," says student Caitlin Ferrell.
The memorial park, which Zehner hopes to be completed before the end of the school year, will contain walking paths, benches and native plant species. The project will be financed entirely by fundraising, grants and donations that the club has obtained.
Branham High School is located at 1570 Branham Lane. For more information or to make a donation to SPARE, contact Matt Zehner at mzehner@cuhsd.org.
