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By Darryl Gangloff

Students, faculty, and staff rallied around the planet through education and service during Hotchkiss’s annual Eco Day on April 22.

The celebration began on the evening of Tuesday, April 21, with a lecture, "Written by Water: Reading History through Rivers," by Rebecca Barnes, Ph.D., instructor in science and Matthiessen Scholars Program director. She shared some of her past work to better understand the carbon cycle and how human activities alter its movement around the planet. Students then participated in dorm conversations and discussed donation strategies for old clothing and other items at the end of the school year.

On Wednesday, in honor of Earth Day, community members dove into dozens of “choose your own adventure” workshops, organized by the Student Environmental Action (SEA) club. Some students stayed on campus and created upcycled terrariums, vertical gardens, screen prints, and more. They learned about the environmental impact of Bitcoin, toured the Tremaine Art Gallery exhibit centered on the Arctic landscape and climate change, and restored Courage Garden.

Groups of Bearcats headed to Fairfield Farm to bake bread, perform various tasks, and enjoy a restorative soundscape journey. Many students left campus to volunteer at the Isabella Freedman Center, work with Trout Unlimited at the Salmon Kill stream, and run the River Road trail.

Following the workshops, students cheered during musical and dance performances in Walker Auditorium.

“Eco Day has always been one of my favorite events of the school year,” said Sofia Rasic ’26, head of the Student Environmental Action (SEA) club. “It’s a time to learn what it takes to care for our place, our community, and our world.”

Sofia said that SEA is constantly making tweaks to the schedule and planning process. “The dorm activities the night before Eco Day were new this year. Buehler came up with the most cohesive and complete plan, and they won four trays of brownies, courtesy of Ms. Likar! A little competition is also very fun, so we had other prizes for photo-taking and trash pickup,” she said.

Sofia applauded the closing performances by MB140 and the Tsunami Step Team. “It's great that student groups can represent the creativity of our community while also acknowledging the beautiful Earth that we are lucky to call home.”

SEA board member Serena Thompson '27 said, "It was really exciting to see the whole Hotchkiss community come together for Eco Day. All of the faculty and staff members who volunteered to run workshops are so creative. I loved seeing all the different ways workshops aimed to raise awareness of environmental issues and how much everyone appreciated the beautiful landscape around Hotchkiss." 

Serena thanked Jennifer Likar, instructor in biology; Jennifer Rinehart, director of the Stan-X Program and instructor in environmental science; and her fellow SEA members for the "the many hours of hard work" they put into organizing the program.

"Eco Day is an important reminder of how lucky we are to live in Lakeville with access to the beautiful woods and trails," Serena said. "We also have the responsibility to protect the natural world and advocate for it."