Concord's Green Team is gearing up for some changes this fall. Not only will the team get a new name, but it will also be offered as a year-long after-school program for high school students in greater Concord.
The name change is a function of the Green Team's recent separation from Groundwork Concord, a nonprofit that closed due to lack of funding. Groundwork's summer program for teens was picked up by Plus Time NH, a nonprofit that promotes after-school programs across the state. Plus Time kept the summer Green Team program more or less intact – teens worked mornings five days a week cleaning up trails, planting flowers and doing general groundwork while learning about local environmental issues. The name, however, needed to go. Groundwork organizations across the United States offer Green Teams and have permission to use the name, but with Plus Time at the helm, it was no longer permitted. Also, the name was already taken by a local nursery that offers educational programming under the same title and had registered the name with the state.
Deandra Perruccio, the team leader, said several names have been considered, including Youth Environmental Service Team (YES), but the plan is to allow the group of teens participating in the year-long program to decide on a title.
The year-long program will look a little different from the summer version. For one, teens are not paid, but they may earn credit depending on their school's policy on extended learning opportunities. Also, the team's approach to learning will take a less expansive but more in-depth approach than the summer team, which covers the basics of several topics in a short amount of time. Teens in the year-long program will pe in and learn about a specific issue and will work on projects geared toward helping that cause. It will be up to the team to decide what environmental issue they would like to work on, but Deandra said one example of a project might be helping promote the new bike share program to be offered by the Program for Alternative Transportation and Health, a nonprofit located here in Concord. That could involve sponsoring contests between schools to see who can get the most students to use alternative means of transportation.
This year, for the first time, the team will be an affiliate of the Gulf of Maine Institute. The institute works with youth organizations involved with environmental issues, especially as it relates to stewardship of the Gulf of Maine and its watershed. As an affiliate, the team attends an annual summer conference on environmental leadership and can join forces with other GOMI teams. A possible collaboration is in the works with a team in Newburyport, Mass., to monitor water quality in the Merrimack River.
Plus Time is currently accepting new team members for the year-long program through an open sign-up process. If you're a teen interested in community service, leadership development and environmental education and stewardship, e-mail Deandra at dperruccio@plus time.org or call 856-8837 before Sept. 18.
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