Planting a Legacy: Juana's Story
This summer, we sent 16 year old Juana for a week to Yellowstone National Park to work with Youth Conservation Corps (YCC)
.
We selected Juana because she is tenacious, intelligent, and passionate about our mission and Lawrence. Juana was interviewed by GWUSA from
Yellowstone
:
"Juana started her conservation work at 13 years of age. She tells how her older brother was a former
Green Team youth
for Groundwork... but how the real motivation for her start was hearing a comment from a neighbor that hit her hard.
'She told me that the streets are dirty, that no one cared, and that kids are just sitting at home doing nothing. I felt she was wrong and wanted to change her view on that,' Juana exclaimed. She joined the Groundwork Lawrence Green Team and hasn't stopped working since."
We often think about the Green Team solely as the high schoolers from Lawrence, typically
aged 14-18. However, their work emanates beyond that, inspiring younger siblings, fellow students, and the community to take up environmental stewardship and advocacy, and lead healthier lives.
We do not
know what the future has in store for Juana, although we expect great things. Green
Team alumni have become Green Team leaders, advisory council and board members, teachers, program managers, activists, civic designers, environmentalists, community leaders, and volunteers. Juana has planted her legacy, now will you?
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