Earth Festival hosted a plethora of performances, including cheers from the Blue Key Heads.
Music drifted over Gelb Lawn last Friday evening as performers took to the stage at Andover’s annual Earth Festival. Organized by the Phillips Academy Sustainability Coalition (PASC), Earth Festival is part of a month-long program dedicated to Earth “Week” 2024, with events beginning in April and ending in early May.
Earth Festival featured various performances, including a cappella and Andover’s step team, SLAM. The event also offered an Earth-themed dessert: chia seed pudding with crushed Oreos and sour gummy worms on top to mimic soil. Alina Chen ’27, who attended Earth Festival, shared her opinion on the most memorable act of the night.
“What stood out to me the most was Michelle Chen [’24]’s cover of ‘Video Games’ [by Lana Del Ray]. That was so beautiful and hearing it live as a cover was super cool. Also, [I enjoyed] just being able to be out on the lawn and feel like I’m at an outdoor concert, those vibes were great,” said Chen.
A few hours later, students hurried to Lower Right of Paresky Commons for the Thrift Store, a collaboration among Andover Edition, Wings Initiative, and PASC. All the clothes at the Thrift Store were donated by other Andover students and all proceeds were donated to Wings Initiative. Attendee Sydney Jan ’26 enjoyed thrifting as a sustainable and affordable way to expand her closet.
“I’ve always heard that thrifting is more sustainable, much better than supporting fast fashion, and it’s also cheap… My cousin’s a really big thrifter, so I’m inspired by that. He showed me a lot of really cool clothes, a lot of vintage pants, and he always tells me how cheap they are. He has a whole closet full of them. He always gets them at such a good price and they’re good quality, so that inspired me to do the same,” said Jan.
Chen also headed for the Thrift Store after the Earth Festival. She noted the Earth Week Thrift Store as an opportunity to connect with other students over shared fashion tastes.
“It was nice to be able to contribute to a cause while doing something I’m passionate about, fashion and styling clothes… I saw a lot of people I knew [at the thrift], and we connected over our shared fashion senses. It was cool to see what people were drawn to and what clothing items interested people. As I was making several trips around the tables, I noticed [that] you could tell some items had been touched before. I saw a lot of people looking at the same items I was interested in and I didn’t know they were also into similar styles,” said Chen.
On Earth Day itself, Andover celebrated with a smoothie bike and chalk art display outside Paresky. As students pedaled furiously, a blender attached to the bike churned chunks of mango, pineapple, and blue spirulina powder into a smoothie. Paired with dollops of matcha yogurt, the smoothie was designed to resemble the Earth. Linda de Boer ’26, a member of the Earth Week planning team, commented on the purpose behind the chalk art and smoothie bike event.
“[The chalk art] is an event with the smoothie bike, because chalk art is more visual, you can have something there as a symbol of Earth day and [students] can do either… This is the month for the PASC to be the most active. We’re doing a lot of events, and it’s really about raising awareness so people see that we’re very dedicated to [the environment] and preserving it,” said de Boer.
Allison Guerette, Campus Sustainability Coordinator for Phillips Academy, spoke on a project she coordinated, “Bee-A-Tree.” Guerette is responsible for working with faculty in sustainability education and students pursuing projects through the PASC.
“We’re doing small, local acts of activism here. We’re making homes for solitary bees, and we are planting fig trees, and oak planters for Paresky for their Earth Month events, and then we are also starting seedlings for our Abbot Learning Garden. Earth Week is [really] to celebrate the work that we’re already doing on campus for the environment, and also to bring new people and new ideas into the environmental and climate movement. It it is very refreshing to see students take the lead on creating educational events for not just students but adults on campus, and I’m really looking forward to the rest of the events,” said Guerette
Sebastian Lemberger ’25, who serves as the External Affairs Coordinator for PASC, also attended the “Bee-A-Tree” event. Lemberger explained how the work PASC was doing would contribute to local ecosystems.
“So, not all bees, as I recently learned, live in hives. A lot of them will essentially just live on their own and make nests where they’ll lay their eggs, and then their eggs will hatch in the spring. So, they need crevices to build their nests, which is the thing we’re making right now, the bee hives,” said Lemberger
He continued, mentioning the upcoming Youth Climate Summit, “I’m looking forward to the summit this coming weekend because we have a lot of great people from out of school who are coming. I feel that we often don’t do events just as a school in general that brings in students from other schools to come to learn with us, so I think that will be exciting.”
Earth Festival:
Gelb Lawn, April 19: Music performances enlivened Gelb Lawn at Earth Festival. Snacking on gummy worms and Oreo chia seed pudding, students played spikeball on the lawn and enjoyed performances including music bands, Bollywood dancing, a capella groups, and cheers from the Blue Key Heads.
Thrift Store:
Lower Right, April 19: Jeans, dresses, sweaters, and hoodies covered tables in Lower Right as Paresky Commons was transformed into a thrift store. In honor of Earth Week, the PASC, Andover Edition, and Wings Initiative ran a thrift store to protest fast fashion while raising funds for charity donations.
Bee-a-Tree:
Davis Hall in Abbot Campus, April 21: The sounds of electric drills filled the air as students worked to construct nests for solitary pollinators — or bees that live alone — and begin the process of planting fig trees in the Andover Campus.
Chalk Art and Smoothie Bike:
Paresky Commons Entrance, April 22: Crowds of students huddled around a table outside Paresky Commons this Monday as the Paresky Nutritionists coordinated a smoothie bike and chalk art event. Beyond offering free smoothies, the event gave students a chance to artistically express themselves through chalk.
