Granville senior Casey Laughbaum climbs to new heights as competitive rock climber

Editor's note: This is one of several feature stories The Advocate is publishing this graduation season about Licking County graduates. For more, visit newarkadvocate.com.

Casey Laughbaum is always reaching higher — literally.

Laughbaum has been a competitive rock climber since her freshman year, an activity she picked up after stepping away from competitive gymnastics because of multiple injuries. She practices a few times a week at a Columbus climbing gym and travels throughout the Midwest for competitions.

Laughbaum said she loves that rock climbing is both a physical and mental workout.

"While I'm on the wall, a lot of it is problem solving," she said. "If there's ever a moment in my life where I'm like, all of these things are just piling up and they're completely out of my control, I think it's helpful for me to go to the gym and be like, these sorts of problems … are something that I'm capable of conquering and controlling."

Laughbaum was one several 2024 Licking County graduating seniors who spoke to The Advocate about their high school years and their plans after graduating this spring.

At GHS, Laughbaum advocated for a district purchase to make the middle and high schools more environmentally sustainable. She and classmates from the AP environmental science class she took her junior year lobbied the Granville Board of Education last spring to purchase an aerobic digester, which speeds up the composting process by taking food waste and turning it into nutrient-rich fertilizer. Last month the board approved purchasing the machine. The digester is expected to be installed over the summer and will be used by the middle and high schools.

Laughbaum and her group partners negotiated with the manufacturer to lower the machine's cost from $50,000 to $35,000 and secured $5,000 in donations from the Rotary Club of Granville and Kiwanis Club of Granville. She said they are applying for more grants and asking for more donations to further lower the district's cost. Eventually, the schools will sell the fertilizer the machine makes.

"The idea is that we're going to pay back the school board the money they gave us, so they're just jumpstarting it," she said.

Laughbaum called the project her "pride and joy."

"I liked feeling like I was doing something. I think it's impactful and I think it's going do a lot for the district," she said. "It's really exciting to me to be a part of that and to be contributing both to the planet and the school."

Laughbaum grew up loving the outdoors but this project kickstarted her passion for sustainability. Now she'll major in environmental sciences at Indiana's DePauw University this fall.

"Because right now with the climate change crisis and everything, I think there's a lot of work that needs to be done," she said. "I want to be part of that. And I want to be doing everything I can to make a difference, no matter how small."

mdevito@gannett.com

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This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Granville senior Casey Laughbaum climbs to new heights as rock climber