Earth day, careers bring DHS to Troy Dothan

Over 100 Daleville High School juniors and seniors were on Troy Dothan’s campus on Monday, April 22, to celebrate Earth Day and learn more about available educational opportunities.

During the Earth Day event, students heard from several professors, watched a documentary that highlighted animal life around the world and received a tour of the campus.

Tenita Strand, creator of The College Readiness Workshop, said Dr. Jeneve Brooks reached out to her to help bring students to Troy Dothan to take part in the first Earth Day event on the campus.

“Between Troy University and The College Readiness Workshop, with the help of the faculty and staff of Daleville High School, we’ve created this event for (these students) to come to,” she said, stating the event was “two-fold” to celebrate Earth Day and learn about educational opportunities available through Troy Dothan. She said the event also taught students the importance of being a good representative of another organization and professionalism.

“There are a couple of lessons (this event teaches),” Strand said. “One, you actually have to be profound enough to know decorum because you will be in spaces where you’re going to be made to be professional, and you have to be accountable, and you have to be a representative of whatever organization you’re in.

“Two, I want them to be able to experience what a college atmosphere is so they can consider (careers),” she said. “Some may be vocation led, some may be in college, some may be entrepreneurs. Any way, you will have to be a problem solver, and you will have to make a contribution to some of the world’s problems that we’re trying to solve. We’re trying to get them primed into that early.”

“Part of this is really getting them inspired and interested and connected to careers in stewardship of our planet,” she said, explaining that the tour could provide a way to connect students “to possible career opportunities that lead them into becoming global citizens and becoming stewards of the land.”

Dr. Gary Manfready, assistant professor of biology, kicked off the day telling students about the importance and history of Earth Day.

“Driving in this morning (April 22), you couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day,” he said. “The sky is just as blue as a robin’s egg. The air temperature was perfect, and nobody would think there’s anything wrong with the planet.”

He said the earth has seen bad days in the past 50 years, but he remembers the first Earth Day celebrations held on April 22, 1970.

“I was your age, and it didn’t mean a flub thing to me,” Manfready said to DHS students. “I was more interested in getting my first car. I was more interested in getting my first job, making money, getting a girlfriend and moving on in life.

“As you get older, I guarantee that, with or without a professional education, you’re going to start considering what really matters.”

He told students there have been great measures taken to protect the planet since the first Earth Day held almost 50 years ago, including measures to control gas exhaust and provide clean water, but several resources that the world currently has will be gone in the next 50 years, such as clean water and oil.

“As a member of the science department here (at Troy University Dothan) and growing up in the sciences, I started appreciating looking at the world from different aspects and understanding different components that make up this planet and realizing just what a fragile, beautiful place this is,” he said. “There’s only one (planet), and if we don’t take care of it, it’s going to be a mess for the next generation.”

He said the generation represented by the DHS juniors and seniors will be the one to “make the difference.”

“Honest to God, it is you,” he said. “It’s the people that are your age that, within the next 50 years, will either correct what’s wrong with this planet or see this planet go into terrible, terrible times.”

He encouraged the students to give all they have while taking whatever path they choose to take toward education or a career, and he said he hopes they try to make an impact on the world.

“No matter what your future has, I would encourage you to do it 110 percent,” he said. “If you’re going to go into higher education, get an education and make a difference in some field, do it 110 percent. If you’re going to go into the job force, do it 110 percent. Whatever you do, believe in what you do.”

DHS student Anastazia Robles said she enjoyed the day learning about the importance of taking care of the earth.

“We are learning that in this society, we must come together as one to help this world be a better place… to help not just human life, but to help everything,” she said. “Little by little, we’re learning that the small things count, and you don’t have to do something super big. If you do something small every day to help the world… it will become better for the next generation to come.”

Learning from professors who have studied the earth speak about the importance of helping protect it, Roblez said she feels she can make an impact.

“The most that I hear about (Earth Day) is from people around me, and being out there with people that I don’t know, who have a different experience… makes me feel like I’m kind of learning something new,” she said. “As of right now, I feel like I will have a big impact on this world. That’s what I plan. My plan is to help everything that I can possibly help in, volunteer in anything I could possibly volunteer in, and just keep helping.”