DISCLAIMER: The characters Jimmy and Clarissa portrayed in this column are the work of the authors’ imaginations. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
It’s the last block on a sunny Friday afternoon. Jimmy is exhausted, counting down the minutes until Physics is over… finally, the bell rings. He springs out of his seat and bolts out the door, yelling “thank you” to Mr. Gould over his shoulder. Once he makes it outside, he finds his friend Clarissa in the quad and they walk to the band room together so she can pick up her flute from her band locker.
“Thank goodness the week’s over,” Jimmy pants. “I couldn’t wait to get out of this crusty school all day!”
“Same! The weekend can’t come fast enough!” Clarissa responds. “To be fair, this school has held up for long enough already. Hey, did you hear about the plans for a new school?”
“Oh yeah! I’ve gotten at least five emails about it. You’re on that School Building Committee right?”
“Yeah, they’ve told me about some of the cool stuff they’re planning on implementing!” Clarissa replies as the friend group’s resident environmental nerd. “Have you heard about their solar plans?”
Jimmy shakes his head.
“Well, there are plans to create an extensive solar array at the new school, which will generate over 3 million kilowatt-hours of electricity a year! This would be enough not only to power the school, but also possibly to return some of that energy to the community’s electrical grid. They could even sell that energy back to the electricity provider for a profit. Pretty cool right?”
“Yeah, but no matter how much it generates, the upfront cost has to be insane.” Jimmy pulls out his phone to find the predicted cost. “648 million dollars?!? Where is that money coming from??”
“Yeah, I get that,” Clarrisa nods. “But man, our school is OLD! In fact, replacing the current systems alone would cost around 300 million dollars. We’re just investing for the future—and reducing our emissions in the process! Plus, we can earn back through grants, renewable rebates, and selling our power back to the grid, which will provide an estimated 140 million dollars—”
“Brr… sorry to interrupt Clarissa, but it’s freezing in here! One minute I’m sweating through my hoodie, and the next my toes are icicles! What’s wrong with our school’s heating and cooling system?”
“It’s funny you mention that,” Clarissa grins, “there are actually plans to install a geothermal system under the new school. It’s awesome!”
“Huh? How does geothermal even work?”
“Well, the type of geothermal the school is planning on using involves using a system of underground pipes filled with a special fluid. Basically, once you get far enough underground, it stays a constant 50°F year-round. This means that the ground is cooler than the building in the summer and warmer in the winter, so the system can either heat or cool the building depending on the weather. It kills two birds with one stone!” (Disclaimer: Envirothon does not endorse bird-killing.)
“I pulled it up from one of these emails. It says we’ll need hundreds of boreholes, each over 800 feet deep?!” Jimmy’s head is practically exploding with this revelation.
“Don’t worry!” Clarissa responds. “These systems are very efficient and long-lasting.”
“This stuff is actually pretty exciting!” he exclaims. “Tell me more!”
Clarissa lights up. “Remember our lunchtime adventure on Monday? The new school is also planning on implementing reusable dishware! Isn’t that neat?” she smiles.
“Nice! That must mean there’s hope for a plastic-free lunch at LHS! I heard Hastings already has dishwashers too!” Jimmy beams. “Speaking of lunch, I’m still pretty hungry. I’m going to get a sandwich at Tatte. See you!”
***
As members of the LHS Envirothon, we (Jocelyn, Caroline, and Eileen—Jimmy and Clarissa are off enjoying their sandwich) are constantly learning more about the tangible impacts our energy choices hold on the nature and communities around us. Yet, despite the many environmental initiatives in Lexington, our town is still heavily reliant on fossil fuels. Given the implications of continued non-renewable energy use in our town, we believe that it is imperative to set new sustainable precedents. And what better opportunity than the new high school?
Yes, the upfront cost of sustainability is steep, but the cost of the alternative is steeper. We saw the impacts of climate change this summer, when we saw Hurricane Helene hit the Southeast, followed by a surprise attack by Hurricane Milton. Two Category 5 hurricanes in that close succession? That’s costly. And if you count the costs that can’t be measured in money—the ecological communities disrupted, the sunny days stolen from little kids by 100-degree heat waves—it’s clear that our fossil-fuel-burning ways can’t continue. So how can we take one step in a green direction? By supporting a sustainable high school for generations of LHS Minutemen to come.