APB Sunrise is a student-led environmental advocacy club that began at Animo Pat Brown in the 2025-2026 school year. Students at APB should begin caring about the environment and join APBS to become part of a group of students that are taking action to create a positive impact in our community.
APB Sunrise: How It Started
APB Sunrise first began after students in Mr. Snyder’s Government class were introduced to the Sunrise Movement, a national environmental advocacy organization. Inspired by its mission, APB students, including myself, reached out to begin making a difference in our community.
“I decided to join APB Sunrise when I saw in Mr. Snyder’s slides that the Sunrise Movement was an environmental organization that was politically involved,” senior Melissa Garcia explained. “That pushed me to research what they did on my own, and I became really interested in their movement.”
Alongside Melissa Garcia and Marcela Espinoza, APB Sunrise was created with support from Jonah Henry of the Sunrise Movement. The club’s first major goal was to organize a community clean-up event at one of our local parks after students shared their input about areas they wanted to see clean.
“Learning that the Florence-Graham area has historically been a place where large companies establish factories, while Latino and Black residents face the repercussions of those factories, motivated me to take initiative in environmental justice opportunities,” junior Jessica Sanchez shared. “Ironically, our school is an old factory.”
APB Sunrise: Taking Action
Throughout the second semester, APB Sunrise focused on recruitment, awareness, and advocacy on issues surrounding our nearby neighborhoods.
During meetings with Friends of Washington Park (FOWP), APBS students learned about the concerns surrounding the ReConserve facility near 92nd Street. The facility was contributing to a disturbance in the neighborhood due to its overall pollution and strong odor– a smell that nearby residents compared to “moldy bread”.
“It was important for me to take action against the ReConserve facility because it has been a longstanding issue in our community,” Jessica explained. “Learning how to report it and get people involved in its removal campaign is how APB Sunrise is taking action.”
Club members conducted research on the issue and discussed ways to revive a previous student-run campaign organized by the United Parents and Students organization that demanded for stricter regulation of the facility’s emissions.
Club activities continued to focus on the organization of community clean-ups to encourage local involvement and environmental responsibility. During our clean-ups at Roosevelt Park and Washington Park, APBS encountered many nearby residents, including children and family members, happy to contribute.
“I do believe the community clean-ups positively impacted our community,” Melissa said. “We were able to organize with community members and show that we have the power to change what we want to see improve in our city.”
APB Sunrise: Together We Are Better
APB Sunrise believes that environmental issues affect everybody in the community– collective action is vital to combatting environmental injustice.
“Everyone should unite together to care about the environment because change is brought through initiative,” Jessica explained. “We need to advocate for our environment or else we’ll see an increase in health issues in the future, as well as a more visible social divide between communities around Los Angeles.”
Melissa agreed, emphasizing the necessity of taking care of the planet we live in.
“Caring about the environment is something that should concern everyone since we all live in it,” she explained. “We should want to preserve our planet because it gives us so much.”
APB Sunrise: Still Rising
On Earth Day, April 22, 2026, APB Sunrise hosted an event to spread awareness about environmental injustice around our community. During the event, we managed to collect enough signatures to demand increased funding for Washington Park from the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation.
As the school year comes to an end, members hope APB Sunrise will continue to grow and continue its impact next year.
“I hope to see more people join APB Sunrise,” Jessica said. “Not because I necessarily want more members, but because it would be amazing to see more people in our community contribute to a larger cause. I also hope to organize more community events outside of school and help contribute to the development of the new park on 92nd Street.”
With more students advocating for environmental justice and improvements in our community, APB Sunrise hopes to leave a lasting impact on Animo Pat Brown and the Florence-Firestone community. Alone, we are strong, together we are stronger.