On Campus

Eco Bash

Christine Tao, Maggie Whitney, and Vivian Cain-Weingram • May 6, 2025

Eco Bash returned this year packed with over 45 student-run workshops, ranging from tree climbing and embroidery to bike riding and bird-watching. The April 16 programming began with a guest speaker, climate activist Eben Bein (See Page 2: “The Bein of Eco Bash”), which was followed by workshops centered around sustainability, climate awareness and innovative problem-solving.

—Christine Tao ’27

Advanced Tree Climbing

Students traded desks for treetops by participating in the Advanced Tree Climbing experience during Eco Bash. The main goal of the workshop was “to create an opportunity for students to decompress and spend time outside,” Upper School English Teacher Dave Scrivner said.

The climbing experience combined outdoor adventure with learning a new skill.

“We could pick any tree we wanted in a selected area to climb,” Gabriel De Oliveira ’28 said. “I have always loved to climb trees back in my home country, so I wanted to bring back the memories that I had.”

At the end of the workshop, all the participants climbed the same tree for a group photo.

“Due to having a lot of people for one tree, we had to work together … to find the best spot for each one person to be at for everyone to be able to be in the picture,” Gabriel said.

The workshop gave students an outlet to learn to tree climb or rekindle a love for the activity, Dr. Scrivner said.

—Maggie Whitney ’28

Alice Van Gijsel Vermeersch ‘28 climbs a tree near the Charles River. (Photo Courtesy of Robbie Lally)

Building a Business with Values

“I created my business to help people eat healthier, local food,” Laurel Valchuis ’02 said, explaining the idea behind “Building a Business with Values,” the Eco Bash workshop she led. In the session, Ms. Valchuis shared the story behind founding her company, al FreshCo, which creates meal kits from local food.

“People care about their community, and we make it easier to eat food grown in their community,” Ms. Valchuis said. Students learned about the company’s core values and its mission to provide clean and healthy food.

Alex Tsay ’27, who attended the workshop, learned about the ethics of running a business.

“Ms. Valchuis talked about day-to-day business operations and also asked us intriguing moral questions, such as the competition between corporations versus small businesses and the control that large corporations have over many markets, like Apple in technology.”

Ms. Valchuis then shifted the conversation toward how these dynamics impact competition and accessibility for smaller businesses like al FreshCo, Alex said.

“She also shared her inspiration for starting the business, encouraged us to follow our passions, and to pursue what we enjoy for our future careers.”

—Maggie Whitney ’28

Students attend the Robotics and Environment workshop. (Staff Photo by Olivia Richter)

Decorating Tote Bags

“I hope students got to relax during the workshop and built a tighter community when they were working together,” Sydney Xu ’28 said, reflecting on the Tote Bag Decorating workshop she led during Eco Bash with Hailey Zhao, Sabrine Said, and Audrey Buller (all ’28).

A long-term passion for the environment inspired the workshop, Sydney said.

“Ever since I was young, I have wanted to do something to spread awareness about climate change. When Hailey got the idea, I was really excited to contribute to the fight against global warming.”

Sydney recommends that other students lead Eco Bash workshops.

“Students should go for this opportunity because it’s really fun to be a leader. They should always take risks and put themselves out there in a leadership role.”

The workshop educated participants about sustainability, Tia Reddy ’26 said.

“I think the environmental lesson from this workshop is the ability to use the tote bags instead of plastic bags or single use bags.”

Verity Guo ’28 left the workshop with takeaways.

“I learned that there are lots of environmentally safe activities you can do while having fun with your friends.”

—Vivian Cain-Weingram ’28

Students make rice and explore the environmental challenges of growing rice in the Rice is Life workshop. (Staff Photo by Olivia Richter)

Colonizing Mars: Ethics of Eco Bash

Of the 29 workshops led during Eco Bash, Salar Sekhavat’s ‘26 workshop, “Colonizing Mars: The Ethics of Geoengineering,” was the best, Alec Bailey ’26 said.

“The workshop was amazing. It was very informative, and I felt that I gained a lot from it.”

Students learned about the ethics and process of terraforming, or transforming a planet so it can support human life.

“The topics of discussion were three moral dilemmas based around terraforming,” Alec said. “The dilemma discussions were really insightful. … My biggest takeaway is that it’s always good to have discussions about moral issues like these ones.”

Salar took inspiration for his workshop from his favorite book series, “The Mars Trilogy” by Kim Stanley Robinson.

“The books changed my outlook on the colonization of Mars so much that I really wanted to share that with others and discuss the ethical and cultural concerns,” he said.

Salar ran the workshop last year and hopes to lead it again next year. Interactive workshops enable students to share their opinions and feel engaged, he said.

“The best way people learn is by doing.”

—Vivian Cain-Weingram ’28