Happy Earth Day!

This Earth Day, Monday April 22, Newman students celebrated in a multitude of ways. Throughout the year, students attended SOUL Tree Plantings and community gardening events sponsored by Mr. Jones and the Environment Subcommittee of ACTIONS. At Monday’s assembly, Mr. Jones recognized the contributions of Lauren Klebba ‘24 and Nick Rezza ‘25 (both members of ACTIONS) in planning these events throughout the school year. In addition, Mr. Jones recognized students who participated in 7 or more tree plantings from 2022 to 2024. 

The Environmental Subcommittee planned many exciting events for students to participate in the week of April 22. All week, students painted rain barrels in partnership with Greenlight New Orleans. The Upper School rain barrels were Earth Day themed; the themes included “ocean”, “space”, and “forest/garden”. Lower School and Green Trees students also painted their own rain barrels. The Lower School selected their own theme and the Green Trees students used fingerprints to add flowers and leaves to tree trunks that some Upper School students painted.

Later in the week, a few Upper School students went to Green Trees and read Earth Day and environmental-themed books to the students. Commenting on the event, Junior Nick Rezza ‘25 stated “Green Trees students loved engaging with Upper School students and listening to the Earth Day stories. It was a great experience to foster connections between our oldest and youngest learners.” 

Earth Day is a reminder for everyone to practice sustainability daily, which can include recycling, reusing, limiting use of water and electricity, and giving back to the community. This can be as simple as picking up a piece of trash from the street while on a walk outside. It is important to remember to care for our planet, which is the message conveyed to Newman students during this week’s celebration of Earth Day.