Officers of the Garfield Green Team, Shannan Leitner, Flora Wright, Gemma Walker, Izzy Wang, and Ruby Kaill spent countless hours thinking of ways to celebrate the history of YESC, to reconnect and reflect on the impact YESC has had on their communities over the years. To celebrate, youth hosted a tree planting and habitat restoration event centered around bringing back YESC members old and new, at Garfield High School, the school where YESC began. In 2019 YESC celebrated its 30th anniversary. This event is vital to the mission of YMCA Earth Service Corps, and it provides an important platform for youth to exchange ideas and learn from each other and local organizations. ![]() This event calls people in to a conversation about Puget Sound local issues as well as issues around the globe, and it inspires and further enables youth to continue their activism by connecting them to resources and each other. These youth comments showcase what the Environmental Leaders Summit is all about. One high school senior explained why the event was so meaningful to her: “Something that really inspired me today was just sitting here and having a conversation with youth and adults from all sorts of high schools all around the area and just seeing the passion…it really inspired me to keep doing what I’m doing.” Another youth commented on the importance of having what may seem like tough conversations: “A lot of times we are quick to call out people on their stuff like waste, like you don’t do this or you don’t do that well enough instead of calling in people, making it more of a heart-to-heart matter.” Since youth who participated in this event came from areas as different as Bellingham, Darrington, Concrete, Renton, Seattle, Bellevue, and Gig Harbor, just to name a few, they were able to collaborate and bring fresh ideas into the mix.ĭuring the Town Hall, youth could share insights from their conversations. Youth addressed a broad range of topics and had engaging conversations, but perhaps most importantly they discussed how they were addressing these challenges in their communities and schools. YMCA Earth Service Corps’ 2019 Annual Environmental Leaders Summit brought together 250 youth from across Western Washington to discuss current environmental issues. ![]() Here are some of their proudest achievements this past year: ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERS SUMMIT I’ve felt like I’ve had an impact by attending YMCA events.” “I think that it’s opened my mind up to how the world is changing and what we can do as young people to help.“Through YESC, I went out of my comfort zone and being a part of it helped me get leadership in a club that I was really passionate about.”.“I've been able to gain so much more perspective about all sorts of things, and I have been given the tools to understand how I can make a positive impact on the world around me.”.Despite a pandemic, social distancing, and so much more, youth have been driven more than ever to address environmental issues and make our community a better place. As an unprecedented school year ends and YMCA Earth Service Corps (YESC) celebrates its 30th anniversary, we wanted to take a moment to share some highlights and accomplishments with you.
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