G reen is busting out all over Harker, and not just because it is spring.

On the upper school campus, the greenhouse is filled with flora cultivated by the Biology Club. The club has a crop-style garden planned with an herb section and is scouting the art department for a collaborator to help landscape the site.

The upper school HEART Club (Harker Animal Rights and Environmental Team) continues their ongoing effort of collecting recyclable paper from classrooms and offices around campus. The weekly collection visits are reminders to the whole campus both to recycle and to take individual action to help the environment. In January, middle school students and teachers collected spare paper generated from routine printing runs, extra copies of homework, staff directives, etc., “so we could get a clear idea of what our monthly ‘waste' is,” said Cindy Ellis, middle school head. The effort is part of a three-campus push to curb excess printing and paper use. The effort ran Jan. 4-29 and resulted in a 2.5 foot pile of paper that was then recycled as scratch paper at the Harker Math Invitational in mid-March. Chris Nikoloff, head of school, initiated the overall paper-saving awareness effort and Jennifer Gargano, assistant head of school for academic affairs, took on the role of educating faculty on the effort at schoolwide faculty meetings. “Teachers have been heeding recommendations – requesting fewer color copies, asking the print shop to send digital files and returning the colored pages separating print jobs to the print shop for reuse,” said Gargano. community change, and it's great that Harker and now San Jose can be a part of that because of their work.” So far, the results are encouraging. “One of our goals is to get smart energy moving in at least 25 schools in California by the end of this summer,” explained Lapidous, who reports that they've already received completed surveys from three schools: Notre Dame, Bellarmine and Westmont high schools. “Students like Olivia, Shreya and Daniela are inspiring,” said Butch Keller, upper school head, who has been following the girls' efforts since last summer. “Everyone at Harker is so proud of what they've already done to combat the effects of climate change at every level. There's no telling what these girls will accomplish in the future!” Maybe the girls will put off learning to drive until they've polished off this global warming thing.