Placer High Environmental Club, students host first Earth Day Festival

The Placer High School Environmental Club hosted its first Earth Day Festival at Overlook Park on Friday, April 22. PHSEC is a student-led environmental group and the largest independent club at Placer High School. It teaches eco literacy and empowers individuals to speak up and take action for the planet. The club is involved in the Auburn community, hosting frequent events and working with other environmental groups. The club was founded after the realization that while many PHS students agreed climate change was a hugely important issue, Placer High School had not taken any action to decrease its emissions or become more sustainable. At first, the group consisted of a few friends. Fewer than three years later, PHSEC has been transformed into an organized group of almost 80 passionate, eco-literate changemakers. Leading up to the 2022 Earth Day Festival, students worked tirelessly to publicize and organize the event. They painted signs, cut flyers, talked to local businesses, attended events to spread awareness, posted on social media, filled binders with contact info, met with bands, made maps and stickers and much more. Students were nervous leading up to the festival, as they were unsure what to expect. PHSEC partnered with five high school groups to host the festival. Sunrise Movement Granite Bay High School had a booth selling stickers and spoke at the event. Colfax Eco-Club helped with kids' activities. Folsom High School Team Soteria helped with publicity while Nevada Union volunteered to help with merchandise and vendor setup. The Placer High School Key Club also got involved, helping with event setup and takedown. The festival featured four local bands: Longboy, Mom Cars, Arguments and Dalton James. Festival goers enjoyed beautiful views alongside great live music. Four guest speakers made an appearance. Emily Hyatt, a Placer High School senior, began with a speech about the founding of Earth Day and the importance of sticking together and taking action to help our planet. Diane Quezada and Frances Kassouni, Granite Bay students, spoke about the Sunrise Movement and climate change. PHSEC founder and President Emilie Brown also spoke, inspiring action while discussing the environmental crisis. Local businesses and organizations were invited to participate as well. Many local artists and businesses were present, selling their products. Vendors were invited and encouraged to set aside a percentage of their profit to donate to local organizations. Through Brown, donations to the event helped to plant more than 25 trees, support local wildlife rescues and clean several pounds of trash from the ocean. Local environmental groups joined in on the Earth Day fun, bringing citizens relevant ways they can help the planet and get involved in the community. Food trucks Maria's Tacos, Ash and Oil and Snowie King were present. All food vendors were happy to provide vegetarian options and support eco-friendly ideals. Local artist demonstrations took place, including a projected art and a large color-shifting dragonfly. The PHSEC booth featured club and composting information, environmental education resources and more. The club raffled off hundreds of dollars worth of prizes. There were games, dancing, balloon artists and more. More than 1,000 people attended the festival, learning more about the planet and how they can help make a difference. The impact of the event will last far beyond Earth Day, and PHSEC members hope they have inspired residents of Auburn to make a change for our planet. The group is already looking forward to hosting the 2023 Earth Day Festival. For more information about PHSEC, visit their Instagram @placer_environemnatl_club, Facebook @PHSEnviroClub, find them on Spotify at 5 Minutes for Earth or contact them at placerenvironmentalclub@gmail.com.