Climate takes center stage for FISD Earth Corps
Frisco ISD Earth Corps is a district wide club dedicate to bringing students who are passionate about the environment together. The group plans to educate elementary students on recycling, and do park clean-ups.
The City of Frisco and Frisco ISD students and staff have come together to continue FISD Earth Corps, a district-wide environmental action club, this year. The program is still relatively new, with the club originating in the second semester of the 2021-2022 school year.
“It’s extremely important to support youth groups and projects around issues they care about and to give them a space to express their voice in a constructive way,” Frisco Superintendent of Environmental Programs Julianah Marie said. “With Earth Corps, students have a way to make a difference and it’s entirely student led, which also helps those students practice their leadership roles.”
I think that today’s youth deserves these kinds of groups to use as an outlet and motivation for positive climate action,
— Earth Corps Education Lead Allyson Lastovica
While the idea for Earth Corps originated with FISD, the group is a collaborative one, with FISD students from various high schools collaborating with each other and with representatives from FISD and the City of Frisco’s Environmental Services.
“Without Earth Corps, each FISD environment club functions entirely independently, some more successful than others,” Maher said. “In the long run, this leads to more FISD students getting exposure to sustainable ways of living.”
To collaborate with the city, Earth Corps works with Marie, and her goal in working with the group is to let the students take the lead.
“My best way to be involved is to just be a contact and resource and let the students shine,” Marie said. “Sometimes people discount the abilities of young people, and that’s such a disservice to everyone because these students are incredible and unless help is specifically asked, it can really be a hindrance. So, I’m not really ‘involved’ as much as I am just an on-looker, but I am so excited for what these students have done themselves.”
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The program is currently planning the projects they want to take on, and one of the places they want to start is in education.
“The plan is to teach the younger grades about recycling, so basically we’ll explain what is recyclable and what isn’t,” Education Lead, senior Allyson Lastovica said. “We want to keep it pretty simple for younger kids, and we want to involve the school’s green teams in order to incorporate older students.”
Sometimes people discount the abilities of young people, and that’s such a disservice to everyone because these students are incredible,
— Frisco Environmental Programs Superintendent Julianah Marie
Along with teaching elementary students, Earth Corps plans to host park clean ups and implement composting programs at high school campuses.
“We are currently working with Frisco Parks and Recreation and Environmental Services to host park clean ups,” Earth Corps President, senior Lauren Maher said. “We hope to also use the blueprint of the Liberty compost system to implement composting at a few other high schools this year.”
The program’s impact goes beyond the individual projects they plan to take on.
“I think that today’s youth deserves these kinds of groups to use as an outlet and motivation for positive climate action,” Lastovica said. “A collective voice can bring a lot of change, and build district wide projects. The stronger the network grows, the more Earth-conscious kids will realize that there are people just as passionate closer than they thought.”
Maya Silberman is a senior going into her third year on the Wingspan staff. Outside of Wingspan, she is captain of the CTE Mock Trial team and a legal...
