SOUTH DEERFIELD — As climate change intensifies into record-breaking summer heat waves, floods and other extreme weather, five Frontier Regional School students are plotting local solutions.
After months of preparation, the Frontier Environmental Club traveled across the state in May to compete in the 2026 Massachusetts Envirothon at Hopkinton State Park, a statewide event that “gives students the opportunity to take what they’ve learned in the classroom and apply it to real-world environmental challenges,” Massachusetts Secretary of Education Stephen Zrike said in a statement announcing this year’s winners.
“The Massachusetts Envirothon is a powerful reminder of how deeply young people across our state care about the environment and the future of our communities,” Department of Conservation and Recreation Commissioner Nicole LaChapelle said in a statement.
This year, the Frontier team earned second place in the Eco Spoken Word Competition, the first competition of its kind at the Envirothon. In the short video the team submitted for the competition, the students take turns unraveling the rippling environmental effects of artificial intelligence with rhymes and rhythm.
During the Environmental Club’s last meeting of the school year on June 3, the members said they settled on the topic of artificial intelligence to reveal the environmental cost many users miss behind their screens.
“With all new fads, people can get blinded by it almost, and [they don’t] see the effects on the environment and [don’t] look around at what’s actually happening as a side effect,” junior Preston Emmons said.
In the video of the poem, freshman Wesley Evans explains the amount of water that data centers use in cooling systems to control the heat generated. According to a study at the University of California Riverside, each 100-word artificial intelligence prompt triggers the use of about one bottle of water at the data centers.
“We can’t do nothing. We must do something,” sophomore Kayla Fagan says to close the poem.
At Hopkinton State Park, the Frontier team tackled the theme, “Living Sponge Communities,” with 22 other schools, diving into the impacts of stormwater on water, wildlife, forestry and soil. To illustrate worsening flash flooding, Fagan 3D-printed urban, suburban and rural skylines before pouring resin over the landscapes.
The students also gave a presentation on the local impacts in Deerfield, including the data they collected measuring the salt runoff in surface water at Bloody Brook and the stormwater that accumulates on the Frontier roof — up to 13,824 gallons during a quarter-inch of rainfall.
The five students then explained potential pathways to protect Deerfield from flooding, including the use of artificial wetlands, permeable concrete and rain barrels.
“Artificial wetlands are basically man-made wetlands,” Fagan explained. “Especially in places like our town where we have a bunch of fields, they’re really useful for absorbing and storing water and they distribute it nicely, so it’s not a flash flood.”
To craft these solutions, members of the Environmental Club sent a survey to Deerfield residents, asking for their thoughts on the best methods to mitigate flooding. Fagan described this as a “really important” step for the project because “the community is what’s being affected by the current issues.”
“One of our goals is to not just help the environment but specifically to help our already smaller community,” Frontier sophomore Nahusha Gudimella said.
Although science teachers Danielle Manna and Stacey Chapley run the Environmental Club, Chapley said “they’re at a point now where it’s student-driven. We just provide the scaffolding.”
“We plant the seed and then watch it grow,” Chapley said. “We enjoy learning as they’re learning, too.”
For Chapley and Manna, learning with the students is a “ray of light,” as Manna described. The educators watch the students refuse to falter in the face of a climate crisis.
“To see it through their eyes versus an older person’s eyes is refreshing,” Chapley said. “It’s not doom and gloom. There are things we can do to improve, even if it’s just in our little section of the world or Massachusetts.”
Although the Envirothon relies on awards and winners, Gudimella described a different takeaway from the annual competition.
“Part of the Envirothon is just seeing everyone else our age there doing the same thing, seeing them so passionate about what we’re all trying to do,” she described. “Even though there’s that little bit of competitiveness, it shows that we’re all rooting for the same thing, we’re all working together, and I think that’s really cool.”
