Nashville School of Arts students Camden Andrade, Noah Cappellino, Madison Moore (Project Leader), Saqbe Alvarez, Mia Rodas Munoz, Alison Lipschutz restored flowerbeds on their school’s campus that had lacked upkeep and had been overrun by weeds. The group of seniors wanted to restore the flowerbeds to prevent them from being completely removed from campus grounds while spreading mindfulness and allowing students an outlet to connect with nature.

By removing the weeds, planting locally sourced native flowers, and future plans to include signs that other students can read to learn about the flowerbeds' miniature ecosystems, the students hope to leave a positive impact on campus after they leave for college.

“I really want to make sure that all of the faculty [and students] know that these flowerbeds exist, and if they would like take care of it, and I want to make sure to maybe have little sticks [with information cards attached to them] on how to take care of them in the garden bed,” Moore said.

Nashville Big Picture High School sophomore Isa Aguilera and Hume-Fogg senior Victoria Fabiyi partnered up to set up a clothing exchange station in the Downtown Nashville Public Library Teen Center.

The station allows teenagers who visit the Teen Center to take and exchange clothes that can be either reworn or repurposed in a new home. The pair of students plan to leave the station in the Teen Center once a week every month.

“I always have a pile in my room of things that I’m not about to keep because they’re just not my vibe anymore,” Aguilera said. “I know a lot of other people that are like 'let’s make some room for some new clothes, let’s get some change going on around here.'

“A lot of people want to be more sustainable, that’s the thing. Teenagers nowadays care about being more sustainable, so this is just a way for them to get them on board with that.”

For her senior capstone, Nashville Big Picture High School senior Cydney Rugless-Thompson wanted to revamp a bus stop on Charlotte Pike. By painting a mural on the ground in front of the bus stop bench, Cydney hopes to create a more welcoming environment for people wanting to use public transportation on Charlotte Pike.

As someone who waits at that exact bus stop to go to school with around 30 of her classmates multiple times per week, Cydney recognizes the importance of urban spaces and how they can be more welcoming for locals.