The Green Heroes of Munster High School
The author is a Junior at Park Tudor School in Indianapolis, Indiana, and a Director for YEPT.
This story is part of The 89 Percent Project, an initiative of the global journalism collaboration with Covering Climate Now.
Among an industrially polluted town in Northwest Indiana, where the air quality is diminishing and cars are coated with layers of coal ash, students at Munster High School are advocating for clean waste disposal, wetland protection, tree planting, and more.
“Ever since I moved here, I’ve been congested and get sick easily,” Grace W., senior at Munster High School and devoted environmental activist, said. “It’s just awful that people have to live like this.”
While many people maintain a bystander approach to climate change, watching the devastating impacts but staying silent, Grace and her Munster High School peers are committed to making change in their community.
The Munster High School Environmental Club is unlike any advocacy club. They not only keep their members engaged, but also spread their impact throughout their community. Each year, the students create a petition based on current environmental needs to accumulate signatures and present to their local government. Recently, because of Environmental Protection Agency rollbacks, a devastating amount of progress in Northwest Indiana has been undone or is being threatened. The EPA’s growing leniency is likely to impact the Munster area, because as companies dump toxic byproducts into waterways, they drift into the Munster Area. In response to this, this year’s Munster High School Environmental Club petition is designed to combat waste disposal.
Members of Munster High School’s Environmental Club at Earth Charter Indiana’s Climate Summit on Sept. 2025. For the author’s article on this Summit, see here.
Their local advocacy is paying off. “Just a couple of years ago our club’s petition was for protecting the wetlands, as our local representative denied a wetland protection bill. Our club members emailed him to illustrate our concerns of wetland degradation, and the representative actually changed his vote,” says Munster High School Sophomore Nina H.
The Munster High School Environmental Club has also been working with their town council to promote more sustainable legislature throughout their city. Due to their perseverance, the city recently created a sustainability council to advise on city legislature, with meetings open to the public.
This doesn’t provide hope for just Munster. It also serves as inspiration for every local advocacy group campaigning for change. This group of young advocates using their voices for change is inspiring and shows that citizens of all ages can make a difference in their communities.
“We can’t vote or decide on policies that affect our lives yet, but we can advocate. Adults tend to listen because they believe we genuinely care,” says Munster High School student Audra C. “But I’ve also had adults at fairs try to quiz or challenge me about environmental issues.” Regardless, these inspiring Munster High School students do not let pessimism deter them from their goals. They know that environmental advocacy is important, and will continue sharing their opinions despite of the pushback they may receive.
Every Thursday these resilient climate advocates at Munster High School come together as a club for a preservation-related activity. Whether they are creating art out of recycled materials, hanging advocacy posters around their school, teaching others how to compost, or hosting textiles drives, these students are directly impacting their community by introducing others to the concept of sustainability. These driven students understand that environmental progress is gathered in small informative steps, and if they remain persistent in educating others on environmental advocacy then change will follow.
The Munster High School students could not have successfully created a sustainability commission in their city without their advisor Mike Bakker, who guides their Environmental Club in the creation of their yearly petitions and their other club activities.
Munster High School Environmental Club advisor Mike Bakker with one of his Environmental Club members. Photo by the author.
Mr. Bakker earned his master’s degree in ecology, where he researched the impacts of climate change on endangered species and coral reefs. After learning about the science behind climate change, his worldview shifted, and the environment gained another protector. Since then, he has been working with his students to teach them how to advocate proactively, and in a productive manner.
Mr. Bakker tries to support his students in advocating for the environment to guide their environmental actions, while still giving the students flexibility in what issues they want to focus on. “I talk about ongoing environmental issues, and if students express interest in acting on one, I help plan the approach…I want to give them the tools to make change,” Mr. Bakker says. While some passionate environmentalists may attempt to force their powerful perspectives on others, he urges his students to share what they care about in a respectful manner. But above all, don’t stay silent.
There are countless lessons to be learned from observing these resilient students and the teacher that supports them, and they can be broken down into three core principles:
First, you don’t have to be surrounded by people rooted in defending the environment to make change. In other words, even if your family or peers don’t particularly care for the environment, be the one to introduce them to environmental protection.
For example, senior Grace W. wasn’t always interested in sustainability. After living in Florida, a state rich in biodiversity, then moving to Northwestern Indiana, she learned the impact of environmental degradation on the lives of people and animals. And it goes without saying that any level of environmental advocacy is inspiring. You might not be in a place in your life where you can actively petition for the environment, but even staying up to date on environmental news is a great first step towards meaningful environmental action.
Second, people of all ages can make change in their communities. Sometimes, as a youth in the climate crisis, enacting change can feel hopeless. But the actions of the Munster High School Environmental Club are inspiring, and bring hope for the future of the climate crisis. The club members’ ability to stay involved in the climate events of their community while also interacting with other cities through participation in conferences shows that all citizens are capable of using their voices for change.
Finally, Munster High School’s passion for advocating to their government about environmental issues embodies a broader civic urge for governments to act on climate change. This idea is reflected in the 89 Percent Project, a global initiative highlighting that 80-89% of people worldwide want their governments to pay more attention to the ongoing climate crisis. This project shows that simply knowing about environmental issues isn’t enough, because real change occurs when brave advocates can make progress in their communities, like the Munster High School Environmental Club members.
So how you can turn awareness into action, from small actions like poster making to large projects such as establishing sustainability commissions?
After all, not all heroes wear capes; some wear Munster High School Environmental Club T-shirts.
The Green Heroes of Munster High School © 2025 by Youth Environmental Press Team is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. To view a copy of this license, visithttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
