OCTOBER 12 — DANVILLE — Members of the PLANET Club at Danville Area High Schools are working to keep the school clean and debris-free.
PLANET is an organization of over 70 Danville area high school students working to make schools greener. They run a high school recycling program and participate in Adopt-A-Highway in the spring and fall.
The club is open to all students, said Michael Mast, faculty supervisor for the PLANET club.
The club meets once a week.
Mast has been an advisor to the club for about 15 years. “And it was set up before that. So it’s by no means a new club.”
“Our main focus is on recycling in high schools,” Mast says.
But the PLANET club is also involved in beautifying the area.
“We are currently working to plant trees on our high school campuses,” he said.
Another club project, according to Mast, “is to recycle the plastic in football matches. That’s when the amount of plastic that needs to be recycled increases.”
The president of PLANET is Maddie Sauers, a senior in high school. Sauers said he joined the club because “the environment and its health are very important to me.”
The idea of recycling is what she wanted to do at school.
“My group is responsible for collecting all the cardboard they find and putting them in the trash. It sounds a little uninviting, but it’s really fun,” she said.
Sauers has also made quite a few friends through club participation. “I love the weekly recycling that we do.”
Sauers said one of the things the club is looking at is raising money to plant trees.
After high school, Sauers plans to major in engineering.
Ryan House, who is also the club’s senior vice-president, has similarly focused on environmental issues.
One of the reasons he joined was, “It’s kind of a good break to be able to recycle, to be with the group and do something good for the planet,” he said.
One of the things they learn through their participation is which items can be recycled.
“Tons of trash go in and out of bins every day,” he said.
“I really like the Adopt-A-Highway program,” said Hause. The latest was Route 11 from Dunkin to the school.
According to Hause and Sauers, people are often surprised at how much waste and debris is picked up at any given time.
“We fill two large bins with recyclables every week,” Hause says.
Class Acts is a weekly feature that highlights the students, teachers, programs and projects of the Valley School District. Email your suggestions for future articles to news@dailyitem.com.
