The Boston Teen Leadership Summit

Photo: Banafshea Ehtemam/JGI

The Roots & Shoots Boston Teen Leadership Summit with Dr. Jane Goodall was held at Mass Audubon’s Boston Nature Center in Mattapan, Mass on May 9. The 40 summit attendees were teen leaders representing 14 local community organizations and schools. All the teens are members of Roots & Shoots. Participants worked with Dr. Goodall to discuss local service projects and how they can make a difference in their communities and the world.

Boston Teen Leadership Summit

with Dr. Jane Goodall

Learn about our participants’ projects

Boston Nature Center Teen Ambassadors is sponsored by BNY Mellon CityACCESS: An Investment in Youth Program. For Mass Audubon’s statewide volunteer day, they helped organize 200 volunteers in trail restoration, cleaning Canterbury Brook—which leads to the Boston Harbor and planting 30 trees for the City of Boston’s Urban Forestry Initiative and the Roots & Shoots campaign, “Rebirth the Earth.”

Barnstable Roots & Shoots has raised hundreds of dollars to support education for young girls in Africa and for animals at the MSPCA. To show junk mail’s environmental impact, they saved mail over 2 weeks to build the “junk mail tree” displayed here today.

Breath of Life Dorchester (B.O.L.D.) Teens works to protect the health, environment and safety of their community through education, advocacy and activism. The “Trees for Codman Square and Tanzania” campaign planted 10 trees in Dorchester and educated residents about the global heath and environmental benefits of trees.

Brimmer & May Roots & Shoots has collected more than 1,200 books for the Waltham Family Literacy Council and works to support animal shelters which care for animals displaced by a major volcanic eruption on Montserrat Island in the Caribbean.

Franklin Park Zoo Teen Ambassadors focus on animal husbandry and education plus act as liaisons between the Zoo and the community. Last December, they organized a toy drive for a local homeless shelter. They called the shelter to find out the ages and genders of the children and they were able to collect at least 2 toys for each child.

Medford High School Roots & Shoots has directly supported dozens of local community members and families through donation drives and raised hundreds of dollars for the World Wildlife Fund through a week of earth education and fundraising.

My Turn has three programs—Connecting to College, School-to-Work and Youth Workforce Development. Their school beautification project raised money for tables and benches and planted flowers, plants and shrubbery so that students have a place to gather.

Riverfront Roots & Shoots organized a press conference, rally and media strategy to demonstrate the lack of green, affordable and reliable transportation in their area. Members have also testified for alternative transportation and for statewide ban on plastic bags at the Connecticut State House.

Roots & Shoots New England Youth Leadership Council created the “Peace Through the Arts” campaign which works to inspire people through art and music to live sustainable and peaceful lives and raises funds for Roots & Shoots groups at the Lugufu Refugee Camp in Tanzania. They also work on the international Roots & Shoots campaigns, “Rebirth the Earth” and “Drop of Hope: Water for the World.”

South Boston Neighborhood House works with youth of all ages through community service, tutoring, camping and recreational trips, counseling and multicultural activities.

Wayland High School Roots & Shoots Via a fundraiser and education campaign about energy efficency, they raised $1,560 for Heifer International. They also lobbied at the Massachusetts State House in support of the Global Warming Solutions Act.

Winchester High School Roots & Shoots has worked since 2005 to green WHS and the surrounding community through a variety of original and local grassroots programs.

YMCA of Greater Boston, Boston Outdoors! works to inspire a sense of environmental responsibility and stewardship in urban teens through experiential education and outdoor adventure. They have started recycling programs and educated YMCA members about the environmental impact of plastic bags. Other projects include: sustainable gardening, trail maintenance, canoeing and hiking all in the Boston area.