The EARTH Club

03/02/2026

The Earth Club had an inspiring indoor meeting on February 14, 2026—our snow-day edition! ❄️💚
We were thrilled to welcome guest speaker Dr. Daniel Malagon from Clean Fairfax, who taught our members about Environmental Health, water conservation, pollution impacts, and the 8 Rs of recycling. ♻️
Dr. Malagon also led a fun trivia game! We had five groups compete, and three groups aced it—earning awesome prizes he generously donated. Our members had such a great time!
We had 13 members participate: Katie, Misha, Tyler, Lucas, Junan, Maddy, Ryan, Lee, Aidan, Eva, Nora, Thrayee, and Jacob O.
Great job, everyone!
A special shoutout to Lucas for bringing in a bag of glass bottles to recycle—earning an extra 3 volunteer hours! 👏✨
The Earth Club continues to learn, grow, and make a difference—one meeting at a time! 🌎💙

02/10/2026

On January 16th, 2026, The Earth Club kicked off the new year with an exciting and immersive environmental science experience! We were delighted to welcome back Danielle Wynn, Ecologist with Fairfax County stormwater management, for second visit with our club.
This session featured the Stream Crime Investigation (SCI) Lab, a hand-on program the transforms student into members of a “stream crime prevention unit”. Their mission: identify common pollutants and and along how they enter our waterways. Threw up land of the interactive presentations and engaging lab activities, members explored the powerful connection between everyday human actions on land and their impact on local streams and rivers.
This meeting brought together 22 enthusiastic earth club members, along with the two eager future members- Parker & Alley, who joined us to observe and participate.
Members were fully engaged as they tested samples, examined clues, and discussed the real world watershed challenges. They left it with a clear understanding of how pollution press and most importantly, how they can help protect our communities water resources.
We are incredibly grateful to Danielle for returning to share her expertise. Her work continues to inspire the next generation of environmental leaders.

01/16/2026

On January 4th, 2026, Katie once again personally recycled all of the collected plastic bags and glass bottles for the second time. Using estimated weight of 9 g per plastic bag, this effort to resulted in the recycling of approximately 4735 g of plastic- equivalent to about 526 plastic bags- along with 67 glass bottles.
This outstanding showcases the EarthClub’s commitment to protecting the environment and making a meaningful difference in our community! Go EarthClub!! Good job!

01/04/2026

Our December meeting was held at Noman M. Cole Jr. Water Recycling Facility, the department of public works and environmental services during their annual open house on Saturday, December 6 at 10 AM.
We were greeted by the touch-a-truck vehicles at the side gate before hopping on a bus for an exciting tour. The bus took us around the facility, showcasing all the buildings on site and providing a brief overview of their functions. Then, the bus took us to the main building where we enjoyed the educational walking tours, interactive exhibits, and tasty snacks. There were plenty of freebies to take home too!
The walking tour even took our members through the outdoor water, treatment, facilities, and into underground pipe areas- it was such a cool experience!
We had a total of 11 members join the meeting with their parents: Katie, Tyler, Maddy, Lee, Ryan, Aidan, Lucas, Whitney, Gerald, Sophia, Adhrit and Noah.
A big thank you to the Department of public works and environmental services for hosting such an amazing event and giving us the opportunity to learn and explore!

11/24/2025

The Earth Club held to final outdoor meeting of 2025 on November 9. Despite the chilly weather and a few raindrops, nothing stopped over dedicated the members. We cleaned Navy Elementary School as usual, with nine members of participating: Katie, Maddy, Jacob O., Jacob K., Sophia, Ryan, Aidan, Lee and Evan. After the cleanup, everyone enjoyed hanging out together and snacking on cotton candy.

Starting in December, we will move our meetings indoors and focus on engaging learning sessions aligned with our mission to protect the environment. This transition marks on exciting new chapter for The Earth Club as we continue to grow and make a positive impact. I am so proud of our members.- Go Earth Club!

11/23/2025

In 2025, The Earth Club committed to recycling glass bottles and plastic bags. At each meeting, members brought the glass bottles and plastic bags they collected throughout the month. On November 4, 2025, Katie personally recycled all the gathered items. Based on an estimate of 9g per plastic bag, we recycled a total of 2,335 grams of plastic, approximately 260 bags and 63 glass bottles. This effort reflects our ongoing dedication to reducing waste and protecting the environment, one step at a time. Go Earth Club!!

10/21/2025

The Earth Club had another fantastic meeting this October Navy Elementary School, where members together to clean up the school grounds. Since it had been a while since our last cleanup, there was a plenty of a liter to collect, and our team worked hard to make a visible impact.

This time, because we had more than enough volunteers for the school site, four members were signed to clean up the walking path through the Century Oak Neighbourhood – a high traffic area during school hours. Their efforts healthy ensure a cleaner and safer route for students commuting to school.

Earlier in the month, Katie Han gave a presentation to the fifth grade AAP classes to introduce The Earth Club and invite new members. Her presentation was a great success, with 25 students expressing interest in joining! Although the notice was a short, we were excited to welcome seven new members to our October meeting: Gerald, Jacob,K., Whitney, Saarim Christopher, Lucas, and Karis. (We missed Gerald in the group photo!)

A total of 15 members of participated in the cleanup, including our new recruit and original members: Katie, Noah, Niki, Lily, Misha, Jacob O.,Tyler, and Maddy.

It was inspiring to see everyone come together, and we are looking forward to another impactful meeting in November!

10/06/2025

In September, the Earth Club proudly took on another storm drain labeling project in partnership with the Northern Virginia soil and water conservation district in Fairfax County. This marks our second consecutive year volunteering with a district.

Our original meeting date was set for September 27, but due to rain, we rescheduled and split the project into two sessions to maximize a participation. The first session took place on September 28 with five members: Katie, Thrayee, Lee, Jacob and Aidan. The second session was held on October 3, with the 11 members joining.: Katie, Misha, Lily, Tyler, Maddy, Niki, Lee, Jacob, Evan, Aiden, and Noah. A special welcome to Evan, who participated for the first time!

Together, we completed labeling in two neighborhoods near Navy Elementary School- Dartmoor Woods and Fair Oaks Glen. In total, 20 storm drains now have new labels.

Our members worked wonderfully as a team and were enthusiastic about giving back to the community. I am incredibly proud of their dedication – they truly are inspiring part of our community!

08/20/2025

The earth club had another successful meeting on August 16! Our dedicated members came together to clean up the school field in preparation for the first day of school. We also participated in Chalk the Walk, where we drew a colorful recruitment message: Join the Earth Club - a fun and creative way to spread the word!
After our hard work, we celebrated with some well-deserved fun at the community pool. It was a wonderful day filled with teamwork, laughter, and community spirit.
We had total 15 members: Katie, Misha, Tyler, Maddy, Niki, Thrayee, Lee, Jacob, Norah, Eva, Raina, Ryan, Aidan, and Noah.

So proud of this amazing group!

07/19/2025

The Earth club had the July meeting Navy Elementary School It was super Hot but nothing can stop our members! We had total 6 members joined and filled up 6 trash bags. Thanks for joining, Tyler, Misha, Jacob, Eva, Nora and Katie. See you in August.

06/30/2025