On Friday, April 21, the Green Team sponsored Walsh Jesuit’s first Earth Day prayer service.  Although the service started on a somber and shocking note that  brought to light the critical problems facing our environment, the mood quickly changed as it focused more on the call to action to solve those problems. Senior members of the Green Team, Roman Gioglio, Jenny Sobnosky, Julia Mullins, and Mary Claire Reagan worked alongside Mr. David LaGuardia, Mr. Tony Dipre, and Mr. Tim Dunn to organize the service.

Mr. Geoff Dipre, currently studying at Ohio State and brother of theology teacher Mr. Dipre, provided one of the service’s key moments as he spoke about greenhouse gas emissions and how climate change in general has affected and will affect the planet. The service ended with a heartfelt reflection from Roman Gioglio during which he stressed how we are called to leave the Earth better for future generations.

Later, Roman commented, “I believe the prayer service went really well. There were a few bumps, but for the first year I was very pleased with how it went.” He added,  “For the first year, the attendance was amazing. I was pleasantly surprised. The amount of people speaks to how hard the Green Team has worked this year and how successful this new project has been at our school.”

Matt Hoffmann, ’17, clearly saw the importance of the service,stating, “It helped the students to actually connect to the issues. It didn’t just tell us how we are hurting the Earth, but why we should care. The Earth’s well-being is our well-being.” Noah Casenhiser, ’18, said the idea of living simply “really hit home.” Living in moderation and conserving natural resources is one simple thing everyone can do to help.

A common theme throughout the service was “we.” We are directly responsible for the environmental crises facing our planet today. To solve these problems, “we” are the answer. We must work together, and everybody must do his or her part to reverse the negative impact of destructive human activities.