School has a large impact on a student’s knowledge of animal species conservation, and some people at Bellevue East believe there are better methods of educating students than what are currently used.

The goal of wildlife conservation is to ensure the survival of endangered and threatened species and to educate people about living sustainably with other species, according to National Geographic. Yet, according to sophomore Hugo Preston, education on conservation received from school only played a small role in his growing knowledge on the subject.

“It’s either self-taught, taught by my mom, and then a little bit of it is from school,” Preston said.

Outside of school, Preston has taken initiative and found ways to help animals including things like volunteering to clean up highways and making donations. Preston said a class focused on animal conservation could help students be exposed to new opportunities advertised through school.

“I feel like most of the students would care and would try to make a change,” Preston said. “There’s people in the school who I know care about animals a lot and would try their best to try to make a difference and a change for endangered and almost extinct animals.”

More and more students are beginning to make environmentally friendly decisions like Preston. Instructor Abigail Ceremuga said she has noticed teenagers are more mindful of where and what they buy than when she was in high school.

“Kids are getting clothes secondhand from Goodwill or from other thrift stores,” Ceremuga said.

Even if dedicating an entire class to learning about animal species may be unrealistic, Preston has a few ideas for smaller in-class activities. He thinks that even short lessons on conservation can provide students with information to start their journey to becoming eco-friendly.

“Pick an animal and teach them about that,” Preston said. “What’s causing them to die, whether it’s predators, pollution, and then list ways that we can make change.”

Instructor Rachel Carraher said that conservation efforts can be simple things like sorting trash correctly at lunch, which is promoted within Bellevue East with many students following the guide. Yet, according to Keep America Beautiful, many younger people are not sure how to recycle, with two in five Americans acknowledging themselves placing items in the trash in fear of incorrectly recycling. This is something Ceremuga said she has noticed and is a reason even deeper education on environmental topics could benefit the community.

“I think typically most people have really good intentions and they don’t want to cause harm, but I think out of not knowing or not being well informed, or just laziness maybe we kind of forget,” Ceremuga said.

Before teachers can begin campaigns like recycling, there must be approval from those in charge. These people are often older and have their mind made up on most things, Carraher said, and that is where it starts to get hard to speak up.

“Us old folks are set in our ways so I feel like they’re less likely to do those things,” Carraher said. “Unfortunately though, the people that are older are the people that are the policy makers and the people that are in positions of power to actually do things.”

In order to make an impact, especially in school, Carraher said she believes contacting representatives and letting them know that these are things that matter is a primary step in the journey to improving the environment.

“So if we want to see change, we have to let them know and be the squeaky wheel that says this is important and this matters,” Carraher said.