Every Monday environmentally conscientious students in the Think Globally, Act Locally club meet to focus on making a positive change in the world. 

“TGAL is a primarily student-led club that is currently looking into environmental issues, and connecting with the world,” said Social Studies Department Head and TGAL advisor, Angela Colwell-Arbour.

This October members participated in the Project Green Challenge, a national competition for high school and college students.

“Each day there were three challenges. Each day had a different topic about the environment,” said junior Ava Jaslowich. 

The highest scoring team from the Regional, Don’t Be Trashy, consisted of Ella Gingras, Ava Jaslowich, Quinn Millote, and Anna St. Germain. 

“Don’t Be Trashy was our top team this year. They ended up in 22nd place out of 776,” said Colwell-Arbour. 

The students in Don’t Be Trashy chose their name to be both funny and straightforward. 

“Our team name is meant to be humorous. We wanted something fun, and the name speaks for itself,” said junior Ella Gringas. 

Each day brought about different challenges to complete, testing the creativity of the team. 

“One of the challenges was to look in nature to create an invention, like sidewalks that change color like leaves change color,” said junior Anna St. Germain.

Working as a team helped Don’t Be Trashy find success in the competition. 

“We did well as a team, and split up a lot of the work. All of us were really invested in the challenges that we completed,” said junior Quinn Milotte. 

Don’t Be Trashy plans to participate in the Project Green Challenge next year, but with a less competitive nature. 

“I would do it next year, but not as committed as this year. The challenges are a lot of fun, but they are also a lot of work,” said Milotte. 

Jaslowich said she valued the experiences gained from doing the challenges. 

“I think that doing it [Project Green Challenge] at least once is worth it. I learned a lot from it,” said Jaslowich. 

Colwell-Arbour said she also recognizes the far-reaching effects the Project Green Challenge can have. 

“Teens don’t really watch the news. They get their news from social media. For example, a student could follow the Project Green challenge on social media, and stay up to date with the challenge and the global connections that it offers,” said Colwell-Arbour. 

Other TGAL Project Green Challenge teams also did well. Team TGAL Wachusett, which included seniors Sofia Hoffman, Brayden Crumb, and Audrey Benoit, came in 31st. Team Green Potatoes, which included sophomores Sophia Mellen, Lauren Henderson, and Monique Garrepy, came in 38th.  

This spring, the club will work on a new challenge – addressing a humanitarian issue. 

“Our next focus is a clothing drive to help Afghan refugees,” said Colwell-Arbour.