Bethany Cole is a sophomore at the Hawaii Academy of Arts and Science in Hilo. Growing up on a farm, she has lived with animals and spent much time gardening. Bethany wants her Island to become more self-sufficient, focused on local growing and sustainable. She believes the high number of food imports has a negative impact on the environment and encourages unhealthy eating habits on the Island. For her Girl Scout Gold Project she is working with the Hilo Improvement Program to create a cookbook From the Garden to Your Table that incorporates local ingredients into tasty recipes. This cookbook encourages local islanders to grow their own food, improve their nutrition and decrease the amount of processed food. Bethany aspires to integrate her interests of being a fashion designer, a writer, or a psychologist. 

Bethany is a sophomore at Waiakea High School in Hilo. She received her Girl Scout Silver Award for environmental service projects including solar energy, sustainable fishing practices, reducing plastics and buying and growing local food. Bethany is passionate about addressing the problem of feral cat overpopulation on Hawaii's delicate eco-system. It's a big problem in our small, island community. There aren't any predators. Cats can have up to six litters a year! With overpopulation cats are often treated badly and are susceptible to starvation, abuse, disease and untreated injuries. For the last six months, Bethany partnered with Rainbow Friends to host six spay and neuter clinics for 300 cats. She helped secure a facility; prepped a meal for volunteers, and prepped cats for surgery and monitored their recovery. At Ocean Day events in March, Bethany will share her experiences and educate people about the problem and encourage them to spay and neuter their pets. Bethany aspires to becoming a veterinarian. For SHYLI's Job Shadow Day she will work with veterinarian Dr. Lei Imaino-Hata.

Sustainable Agriculture: Hydroponics Project:
KaMele Sanchez & Sherry Ann Pancho

KaMele and Sherry want to educate people about producing their own food through hydroponics. They were inspired by a site visit to Richard Ha's Hamuakua Springs Country Farm. He invited them to write for his blog. "When we began this journey with hydroponics, we never knew it was a slow revolution in the process," writes Sherry. "What many people don't realize is that hydroponics is growing more and more every day." KaMele and Sherry spent their winter vacation building a mobile hydroponics system. They want to inspire and give young people a hands-on experience of touching and working with a functioning hydroponic system. It will enable them to really see and understand how it works, and realize how applicable it is to our Island. They are invited to speak everywhere! At the Honoka'a Elementary and Middle School, Waimea Elementary School-as well as a showcase at Ocean Day, Earth Day, Science Fair, Onizuka Science Day and Future Farmers Association. Even ACE Hardware wants them to have demonstration for heir customers! For Job Shadow Day Sherry will visit Henk Rogers' Puu Waawaa Ranch, hydrogen and renewable resources. She aspires to become a Biomedical, Aerospace, or Computer Engineer. KaMele is matched with Richard Ha, and aspires to be an environmental scientist. "People are really moved when they see sixteen year olds who care this much about our Island," says KaMele. "They listen more to young people with new ideas; and we can relate to older as well and people our age and younger. We have a lot of potential, and we want to see our Sustainability-In-Action Projects take off."

 Sustainable Education: Alex Siordia

Alex wants to encourage students from public schools to apply to colleges, junior colleges, community colleges, or technical schools to further their education and pursue a career of their choice. "I was concerned some friends were nervous and even afraid of learning about and engaging in the college application process," says Alex. "As a full scholarship student at HPA (Hawaii Preparatory Academy), I have benefited from a wealth of resources that prepared me to apply colleges. Thanks to all this support, I'm now on the deferred list for Harvard University!" What started out as just one college workshop to benefit the juniors and seniors in his community-it has grown! KaMele and Sherry invited Alex to visit Honoka'a High School's Career Counseling Center. When they met with Principal McClelland and Counselor Lambert, they invited Alex to their "Talk Story" to inspire students and parents. Alex wants to recruit lots of young people and inspire them to attend the workshop, and then sign up for community programs at HCC, NHERC, Upward Bound, and Gear Up that require 15 students. Other community venues include Waimea Parks & Recreation, Thelma Parker Community Center, Waimea Middle Charter School and North Hawaii Education Research Center. This will be a great win-win to the community! Alex aspires to become a lawyer. He is especially interested in supporting non-profit organizations like SHYLI. "My goal in life is to help my community by providing more opportunities for those less privileged," he says. For SHYLI's Job Shadow Day, Alex will be with Representative Cindy Evans.