CHS students who are enrolled in the IB program must complete a variety of activities that qualify as creativity, active, and service (CAS) hours in order to become a recipient of the IB Diploma.  Aside from that, IB students must do a CAS project, which contributes to their CAS hours.  IB students at CHS have done a wide variety of CAS projects, but two seniors are currently working on one that has never been done before.  Seniors Gabby Petrocelly and Michael Dauber have recently been refurbishing the greenhouse located behind Mr. Hoyle’s room in the 700 quad.  The greenhouse, which has been sitting idle for the past few years, caught the attention of Petrocelly and Dauber, and they decided that it was something that they could do not only for their CAS project but for their sole enjoyment of preserving Claremont’s environment.  

“I decided to repair the greenhouse because I’ve always had a passion for the environment.  It is something that is very important to who I am and what I want to do in life,” Petrocelly said.  “Not only did I think it was a great opportunity to repair the greenhouse that seemed to be abandoned for years, but it was also an opportunity for me to expand my own knowledge and bring awareness to helping the environment in any way possible.”

Interestingly enough though, Petrocelly happened to come across the greenhouse by chance.  

“Mr. Hoyle’s classroom has a door that leads out to a patio where the greenhouse is located.  I went out there one day and discovered that there had been a run-down greenhouse just sitting there.  This is how I got the idea to repair it,” Petrocelly said.  

So far, Petrocelly and Dauber have cleaned the greenhouse, fixed the door, replaced the CO2 generator, and brought water back to it via the repaired irrigation system.  Now, Petrocelly and Dauber will plant seeds, which will grow into chili plants, flowers, and herbs.  

Once the project is finally completed, Petrocelly and Dauber hope that it will be a benefit to CHS and Claremont’s overall environment.  When asked how the new greenhouse will affect CHS, Dauber responded optimistically.

“I think our project will benefit CHS because it’s a project of beautification and it has not been used in years.  So we are just hoping that we are bringing new life into something that’s been a forgotten part of CHS for a while now,” Dauber said.  “We hope to inspire future IB students by demonstrating that you can do a CAS project that’s beneficial to something while still enjoying what you’re doing.  IB is a lot of hard work, but there are moments within it that you find yourself doing something that you love, and we hope that future IB students will be able to give back to something but also feel good about what they’re doing at the same time.”  

The greenhouse CAS project is a perfect example of how IB students can contribute to their community with great efforts to improve it.  While fixing a greenhouse is a relatively small action in a big wide world, it is taking a step forward in taking the environment to new levels and heights.  It is a relatively minor thing, but fixing the greenhouse and planting seeds will make a significant difference in Claremont.