Two years ago, I realized that my high school, Gann Academy, a Jewish day school in Waltham, Mass., was missing something. I was a sophomore at the time and became aware that my school had no environment club.

Living as a North American Jew who has attended private school all my life has been all I could wish for in an upbringing. I hear about the genocide in Darfur, poverty in South America and terror in the Middle East, and I thank God that I do not have to experience that firsthand, that I am privileged to live freely and safely at all times. This past March, however, taught me that while being in my situation is a fantastic thing, turning my back on the struggles of our surrounding world would be a shame.