Despite being almost one hundred miles from the sea, our ocean still feels the
impact of our actions. Seventeen-year-old Keira Stevens has led a successful and
environmentally impactful club, Save the Ocean Club, at Etiwanda High School which
works to bring environmental changes. As a sophomore, she saw the lack of
environmental awareness in the Etiwanda High School community and made it her
mission to bring more awareness to our environment and its impacts. Despite being a
part of many other programs at Etiwanda High School such as band, tennis, and
student government, as well as many AP and Honors classes, Keira Stevens still
maintains the same passion and goals for her club. Moreover, here at Etiwanda, Save
the Ocean Club has a mission to bring awareness to the dangers our ocean and
environment face. They do so by leading clean-ups, fundraisers, and impactful club
meetings which have gained them school recognition. As a rising senior, Keira Steven's
passion project has been something she only could have dreamed of and as she leaves
Etiwanda High School she knows she has left her mark.
During the beginning of Stevens's sophomore year, she realized that many high
school students had little awareness of the issues that our environment faces. She
made it her mission to bring more awareness to these issues, thus starting her Save the
Ocean Club here at Etiwanda, also known as STOC. The ocean and the environment
have always been something close to Keira's heart as many of her family members live
along the coast in San Diego. However, that is not the case for many students. As
Etiwanda is located in the Inland Empire, Stevens says that "many people still do not
understand that just because we are not directly at the beach, our choices make an
impact." Stevens realized that many people do not realize that runoff water and sewage
make their way to coastal cities and our oceans, stating that, "because we cannot see
our impact, most people choose to ignore the problem." She made it her mission to
change this mindset in her community and thus, her Save the Ocean Club was born.
Her club's mission has been to "encourage students to develop a sustainable mindset
wherever they live." She believes that small habits in one's daily life can help to create
change on a global level to help combat global warming.
To lead these changes, she and her club work both in the IE community as well
as along our coastal seas. Within the IE, she organizes trail clean-ups at places such as
Etiwanda Falls to teach members of her club that they can make an impact wherever
they may be. On a larger scale, STOC works with Orange County Coastkeeper to host
beach clean-ups and sort trash, educating members of her club that mother nature
deserves to be treated kindly and with respect. Along with clean-ups, STOC also hosts
fundraisers, the most recent being a thrift pop-up shop right at Etiwanda High School. At
these various fundraisers such as the thrift pop-up shop, STOC provides a space where
students can sell and buy clothes for cheap, giving clothes new homes and reducing the
landfill that many clothes end up in while also raising money for beach supplies. Since
Stevens' sophomore year, her club has made a huge impact within the IE community,
even being awarded "Most Impactful Club" at Etiwanda High School while competing
alongside dozens of other clubs. As a club, STOC's mission is to create a more
environmentally knowledgeable community by encouraging students to live sustainably.
When Keira Stevens created her club, she took on a huge leadership and
management role. She takes pride in being president of her own club. She creates a
welcoming environment for both her officers and members who feel open to sharing
their ideas with Stevens. She values outside opinion as combined efforts make her club
shine the most. Along with this, she knows that she has a team of amazing officers who
share the same passions as her and want to see STOC grow to its fullest potential. To
be president of a club is a very difficult task but Stevens makes it look simple as she is a
natural-born leader. Over her years as president, she has faced many changes and
difficult tasks. One that she often faced was transportation as many students did not
have access to transportation, especially to beach clean-ups an hour there and back.
As a leader, she has redirected her focus to hosting clean-ups in the IE
community. She hopes that this teaches her members "that wherever you are, you have
an impact." Along with struggles due to transportation, she has also struggled with
learning to balance commanding and compassion. With her officers especially, she has
realized she can be too relaxed when deadlines need to be met. To combat this, she
uses her outstanding leadership skills to encourage her officers to "reflect on how we
can incorporate small habits or organization tools to put our best effort in the club going
forward." Despite these minor hiccups, her motivation for her club is never lost. Save
the Ocean Club is Stevens's passion project and she has been blessed to be
surrounded by people who have the same goals for the club as her.
To Keira Stevens, her club is her passion project. She has been blessed to see
the growth of her club and her impact on her community and around the globe. Her club
has made her new friendships and taught her many leadership skills. Though she is sad
she can not hold onto her club forever, she is hopeful for the future of her club and its
new leaders. As a rising senior, she believes she has fulfilled all she had envisioned the
club would be and more. Awards such as "Most Impactful Club" at Etiwanda High
School, which were prompted by her many community and beach clean-ups as well as
her beach fundraisers, have shown Stevens that her club has made a positive impact
on her community. She attributes this success to her officers and members who share
the same passions as her and hopes that when she is gone, her legacy will continue.
Keira Stevens has created and led one of the most successful clubs through her hard
work, determination, and passion for what she does.
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