Written by Kaitlin Harness (Class of 2022)
Photography by Rachel Blythe (Class of 2022)

Every day is Earth Day. But on April 22, the students of Instilling Goodness and Developing Virtue Girls’ Schools came together to honor and celebrate this planet with the rest of the world for International Earth Day.

Led by the Green Initiatives team, students learned about the establishment of Earth Day and the updated mission of the Earth Day organization, as well as the theme of this year’s celebration. Addressing the issue of consumer choices and the way financial policy affects the earth, this year’s theme was Invest In Our Planet, urging individuals, companies, and governments to hold themselves accountable to the earth. 

After being introduced to the event and encouraged to think about applying the theme to their own lives, students played a bit of environmental trivia, guessing the amount of water that it takes to make different food items and reviewing their APES knowledge. Then, to express their appreciation for the earth and its inhabitants artistically, students of all grades and even teachers played with face paints, drawing different animals and plants. Laughing and checking out each others’ painted faces, they headed over to the school garden to plant peach trees, seven for each of the bodhi shares. Dedicated by the school to the graduating seniors of 2022, students took turns shoveling dirt around the trees while collectively reciting Om Mani Padme Hong.