BANDING TOGETHER FOR A GREENER WORLD—Thousand Oaks High School biology teacher Denise Powell, left, makes a donation for a wristband being distributed by junior Brianna Mellon, 16, right, while junior Chelsey Pedersen, 16, second from right, hands over a wrist band to sophomore Ben Rogers, 16. An Eco Fair took place on the TOHS campus last Thursday, which was also Earth Day. JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers Students came out in force to celebrate Earth Day last week at Thousand Oaks High School.

Eco-friendly clubs hosted booths, handing out reusable shopping bags, selling bracelets and encouraging kids to sign a pledge to keep the ocean clean.

Heather Farrell, a science teacher at TOHS, organized the event.

“Most students believe that they are only one person and can’t make a difference,” Farrell said. “My goal here at Thousand Oaks High School is to make our students more aware that even though they are ‘one’ they still can make a difference.

“If enough people adopt that attitude . . . then pretty soon that ‘one’ becomes many. We need to educate our youth. They are our future.”

Students swarmed around to sign a pledge “To Not Trash the Ocean,” filling a long banner with their signatures in colorful markers. And Farrell’s Environmental Marine Trainers Club sold “Living Blue” bracelets, encouraging students to keep the ocean clean.

Chelsea Pederson and Brianna Mellon, both 16, sold the 100 percent recycled silicon bracelets to raise money for the World Wildlife Fund and The Nature Conservancy to save endangered manatees, coral reef and sea turtles.

TOHS hopes to start a Green Careers major program to introduce students to careers in environmental fields, including wildlife management, wind-turbine engineering and eco-activism.

“As a science teacher, I’ve always thought environmental issues were important,” said Valerie Arkle, a teacher at TOHS. “There’s more awareness now, and there are jobs opening up for people in these fields. Students today are the ones who are going to be solving our problems tomorrow.”

Students in the major program would meet once or twice a month, and Arkle said they’d organize field trips and job shadows and bring in speakers in related fields.

Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s stores donated reusable bags and flower seeds. Local vendors Revolution Surf Co. and Sector 9 skateboard shop were on hand to provide information about their companies and raffle off a sustainable skateboard made of bamboo.

The Students for Solar Schools sold bracelets in an effort to get their peers talking about the benefits of alternative energies.

“The beads are UV sensitive, so they change color when exposed to ultraviolet rays,” said Jinygi Yi, a 14-year-old freshman. “Our organization (is in place) to promote the implementation of solar panels at schools.”

Michelle Hwang, a 16-yearold junior, said they need about $6,000 for the panels, which would ultimately save the school $36,000 to $60,000 on electric costs.

The library manned a booth showcasing green media, and the Link Crew promoted recycling on campus.

This year is the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, which was founded by U.S. Sen. Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in April 22, 1970.

“Earth Day is now a day designed to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth’s environment for all those who wish to make this planet a better place,” Farrell said. “Earth Day is really important. And we were finally able to get a celebration together.”

Farrell said the event will be the first in an annual series.

“We want to show our students that little things like using a cloth bag, turning off the water, unplugging electronics or even changing a light bulb can help the environment,” Farrell said.