Former Explosion staff writer, Kate Enriquez, is a senior at Glendale High School, and she is currently the president of the Save the Seas Club. She is also a captain of our GHS color guard team, holds cabinet positions in UNICEF, Key Club, CSF, and a member of debate club and the National Honor Society.
Outside of GHS, her hobbies include reading, baking, and writing, and she is the Glendale Event Coordinator for the Youth Animal Rescue Initiative. Although our school wasn’t her first choice, Kate is still making the very best of her years here.
Why are you so fascinated by the seas and plant life?
Growing up, I always really liked animals, and the founder of the club, [Riley Millward] is now a marine biology major [at UC Santa Barbara]. Seeing the work that Riley has done really inspired me. Riley’s genuine passion was contagious, and it inspired me to get involved both within the club and on campus.
I also feel like climate change overall is really overlooked, and when I go to college, I want to help endangered species and help rehabilitate them. I felt that this club would be a good way to start helping locally before I go into my career.
How has this club changed since you became president ?
When I first started, the club was very small. At the time, I was already friends with the president, so we’d go to the events together. When Alaina [Galang] took over the club last year, it grew a lot, and I feel like helping out at football games and contributing to other school events really helped promote it.
How did you become president of this club?
I joined my sophomore year…and I thought this would be really interesting to be part of. That’s when I became treasurer my junior year, and I knew I’d want to become president one day, too. Being friends with both presidents previously, I wanted to carry on their legacy and help this club grow. Save the Seas is one of the reasons I want to major in environmental or animal science [in college] and work with endangered species.
What kinds of activities are sponsored by your club?
We do aquarium field trips at the end of the year. Right now, we’re working on doing beach cleanups and collecting recycling from the football games. We considered doing other sports games, but they’re just not as popular as football, so we’re thinking about starting at basketball. What I’m focusing on is registering our club with Heal the Bay, so we can help outside of the school and raise our impact. We’ve also had events with Friends of the LA River, doing habitat restoration events at the Sepulveda Basin.
Do you think you’re going to eventually volunteer at places like aquariums?
I have looked into it before in the past. Because of my personal career path, and what I wanna do in college, I have focused more on animal shelters than aquariums, and recently joined an animal rescue initiative. However, I have researched different opportunities.
What goals do you have for the club?
We’ve always had an issue of people not being as active when the football games end, so I really want to establish a long-lasting club, where the members stay throughout the year, rather than just fall semester. And I also wanna try to make [graduation] cords for the seniors and have some more recognition. I believe this club is really important, and I aim to make it last longer.
In the future, Kate hopes to go to a four-year university to major in either environmental or animal science. She hopes to become a wildlife veterinarian, focusing on rehabilitating endangered animals. She hopes that after she graduates, our school’s passion for Save the Seas continues on.
If you are interested in joining the Save the Seas Club, contact their advisor, Mrs. Keefer, at [email protected]. You can also follow them on Instagram: @stsc_ghs!
