Students, Families Team Up to Grow Annual Earth Day Fair

Members of the Colorado Academy Upper School Environmental Club joined forces with parent sustainability volunteers on April 22, 2026, to make the second annual CA Earth Day Fair, a fun and educational experience for all ages, bigger and better than ever.

Held in the middle of campus in the tree-shaded Sculpture Garden, this second edition of the Earth Day Fair featured engaging displays and activities aimed at inspiring students from Pre-K to Grade 12 to explore new ways to care about the planet and discover facts about everything from local bee colonies to wind and solar power.

According to Environmental Club Co-President Senior Caroline Hagen, “The biggest part of being involved in sustainability at CA for me is the education part. If we’re able to pass on knowledge to the younger generation—if we can help them learn to love the environment and the outdoors—then they’ll be the ones to continue the efforts to conserve it.”

“I love teaching others about the things I’m passionate about,” adds Hagen.

Working with volunteers on the Parent Association’s Sustainability Committee, the Senior and her Environmental Club Co-President, Junior Mia Larkins, organized and helped run stations that encouraged students to plant their own seeds to take home, create a bird feeder, learn about CA’s carpooling efforts, understand how to reduce plastic waste, try wind- and solar-powered models, find out about the super-composting powers of the humble worm, observe one of CA’s beehives, and have fun with temporary tattoos and stickers.

Earlier, members of the Environmental Club had offered Upper Schoolers the chance to taste-test edible crickets, a source of high-quality protein that is more sustainable than commercially-produced meat.

“It’s great to see how sustainability has really taken off at CA in the past few years,” observes Larkins. Guster, CA’s cutting edge biodigester for food waste, and its glass crusher—both of which help produce compost that’s used across campus—were “huge” additions to the school’s sustainability arsenal, she says.

Larkins and Hagen have advocated for and witnessed numerous other successful initiatives during their years in the Upper School, including the adoption of plastic-film recycling service Ridwell, the arrival of EV chargers in parking areas, and shifts toward sustainability throughout CA’s operations and maintenance programs.

To cap off the 2024-2025 school year, CA was even made an official custodian of an Artemis I Moon Tree Douglas Fir seedling, grown from a seed that flew aboard the Orion spacecraft in 2022 during a 25 ½-day journey beyond the Moon and back. At the tree’s planting ceremony, Assistant Head of School Amy Wintermeyer—who collaborated with partners in Operations on bringing the tree to campus—“Being selected by NASA is a tribute to the huge strides we’ve made in CA’s sustainability with the enthusiastic participation of faculty, staff, students, and families.”

“It’s awesome that we have so many families, faculty, and staff who want to be involved,” notes Hagen, who next fall plans to study environmental science at college. “I just love working on events and causes like this one,” she says. Hagen was also one of this year’s Co-Presidents for HOPE, the largest student-run organization on campus.

Hagen and Larkins both cite CA elective science courses such as Climate Change and Environmental Chemistry for spurring their desire to learn more, and next year, according to Larkins, the goal will be to continue driving interest among Upper School students. 

“It’s sometimes easier with the younger kids to get them excited,” she says. “Even though we have 60 Environmental Club members signed up, high school students here have so much going on that not all of those are always able show up.”

“But CA has so many who are putting in the effort on sustainability, even if they’re not in our club” adds Hagen. “So many students, teachers, and members of the Operations team are on our side—and that helps push us, too.”

More Photos from Earth Day 2026