Students at Harbor City International School (HCIS) have been busy with environmental projects and initiatives. Carley and Aspen are two of the students involved with the HCIS Action Club. The club is advised by teacher Brian Scott.
At the 2026 Minnesota State Fair, HCIS had an opportunity to be a part of the Eco Experience with a presentation and a Q&A. "I love the idea of us being able to collectively have people come over and talk about what we've been doing," says Carley.
The opportunity at the State Fair was related to Green Step Schools, a newer designation for environmentally focused schools, based off of Green Step Cities and Tribal Nations. There are several qualifications for Green Step Schools. "Sometimes it's specific things, but more often than not it's just paying attention to environmental factors that are being put out by your school," says Aspen. "I think one of the main things that got us on the radar for the Green Step Schools was all of our composting and our waste work."
For the Action Club, there is always something on the horizon. Presently, the students are celebrating Bat Week to raise awareness about destigmatizing the 'scary' association with the animal. "We're having a bat art contest, and then our Halloween candy grams, some of them are going to be bats," says Aspen. "The money made from those is going to be donated to Bat Conservation International."
Looking further into the future, there's reason for continued optimism. "We have a lot of newer students in Action Club," says Carley. "I just know it's going to be amazing with help from other students."
You can hear Green Visions at 8:20am every Wednesday on Northland Morning.
