If you are interested in gardening, taking care of plants native to Illinois, and caring for the community, Ecology Club could be for you. Ecology Club prioritizes growing plants native to Berwyn and Cicero, often times involving other people and communities in our local community, and being led by president Mikayla Aguilar, a junior, and club sponsor Kennedy Irmen.

“Ecology Club is like good to connect students with their community a little bit,” Kennedy Irmen says. “We’re growing plants native to Illinois and specifically to Berwyn and Cicero, and I think that that’s good because then we can connect a little bit with, like, the community when we clean up the community gardens and things like that.”

To join the Ecology Club, all you have to do is go to room D120 at Morton West High School after school on Thursday, where you’ll be greeted by its members. “The members that come all the time I love, and I think it’s a good time and it’s fun, and I think they’re all respectful to each other, and I like when their friends come too; it always like brings a slightly different, more energized vibe,” Irmen states.

The greenhouse and community garden are where Ecology Club spends most of their time, tending to the garden and plants growing for the season. “I think other people should join the club because it’s a fun way to meet other people, and you get to be in the dirt and bring things back to the community that weren’t there before,” President Mikayla Aguilar added. It’s a very slow-paced club with a calm atmosphere to it where you get to mellow out with the plants. If these are the kind of activities you enjoy, give Ecology Club a try; they’d be happy to let you in.