Burk Horizon student starts environmental club

An unlikely club at an unlikely school has students going green.

Senior Kevin Olvarez started an environmental club in December at Burk Horizon High School, an alternative, behavioral and second-chance school for about 200 students.

The club promotes conservation and recycling around campus. One of its first projects was starting a water bottle-recycling competition among classrooms last spring semester. The winning classroom collected more than 200 pounds of water bottles.

Science teacher and club adviser Christine Axas has taught at the school for nine years and said she has never seen students show such interest in helping the environment.

Olvarez's club won a local high school energy-conservation competition sponsored by the Alliance for Climate Education and Caesars Entertainment. The ACE is a national nonprofit organization that educates high school students about climate change.

To win the Biggest Loser: Energy competition, the club asked teachers in five classrooms to take energy-saving measures for two weeks, such as turning off half of the lights during class and powering off computers when not in use. The school, at 4560 W. Harmon Ave., calculated a 1,267-pound reduction in carbon dioxide output and a savings of $93 during the two weeks.

"I always recycled; I always was into helping the Earth," Olvarez said. "I was thinking all the big schools are doing it. The small ones never really get shown."

For its efforts, the club received a tour Sept. 19 of Caesars Palace and a presentation about its green initiatives. Caesars Entertainment also bought lunch for the 11 club members at Serendipity 3, 3570 Las Vegas Blvd. South.

Students said they learned how Caesars Palace separates trash by hand and recycles the contents. The hotel also switched to water-saving shower heads and energy-efficient light bulbs. Caesars Entertainment also collects used shampoos and soaps at all of its properties for a company that recycles them and sends them to impoverished countries.

Members of the club said they took away ideas from the field trip that they hope to incorporate at Burk Horizon.

"We were really excited about it," said senior Breeana Palmer. "Even though we're a small school, it does make a big difference."

The club said it would like to set up bins around the school for all types of recyclable items, including the usual paper, plastic and aluminum bins, as well as those for cellphones and old electronics.

Olvarez said lack of funding is keeping such projects from getting started.

"We don't have bins or people to come pick up the recycling," Olvarez said. "We're working on that.

"Our school doesn't have all that much money, so we need big people to help us out a little bit. We need to get our word out there."

To contact the school or Axas, call 702-799-8150.

Contact View education reporter Jeff Mosier at jmosier@viewnews.com or 702-224-5524.