YOUTH ENVIRONMENTAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAM (YEEP)
Program Description & Team Leader/Mentor Information
YEEP is an experiential, summer time environmental enrichment program designed to empower teens, age 15 – 19, to act positively for the environment and themselves. Teams of high school students, guided by college mentors, build a service business where they sell native plants and install native-plant gardens for property owners—residents, businesses, and city — within their community. The program is offered to students in Waltham and Cambridge and may expand into a third town in 2019.
YEEP gives youth the opportunity to: “Learn. Earn & Return.” Students learn real-world applications for school subjects; they earn an hourly wage while learning and working; and they return biodiversity and good stewardship practices to the Earth.
YEEP addresses two timely needs affecting many communities. The first is critical socio-economic—how to help youth develop skills they can use to get jobs and to advance their personal, academic, and career directions. The second is a serious environmental issue affecting all society—how to restore vital biodiversity (essential to all life on this planet) and wildlife habitat in our communities where development has far outpaced preservation of open space, and pesticides and climate change contribute to species decline. This program offers students, mentors, funders, and customers a way to take action in their own backyards and feel hopeful about the environment and the future.
We believe this program is valuable for the community because:
- YEEP engages youth in meaningful, paid real-world work outdoors;
- YEEP empowers youth to be community advocates and provides 21st century life and career-readiness training and business experience;
- Residents and businesses receive a valuable service at a discount that makes their properties beautiful and functional because pollinator-friendly, perennial native plants help to restore biodiversity for wildlife and to mitigate the impact of climate change; and thus,
- The community builds ecological resilience with the help of productively engaged youth.
JOIN US, BE AN ECO-HERO, LEARN A LOT!
For more information about sponsorship opportunities and job availability, please contact [email protected], Barbara Passero (781-209-0052) or Jean Devine (617-947-6256).
MS4B YEEP College Intern Team Leader/Mentor – Summer 2019
Meadowscaping for Biodiversity (MS4B), www.meadowmaking.org, brings high school students outdoors in nature and empowers them to take positive steps to restore biodiversity, while gaining life and career-readiness skills. In our Flagship program, the Youth Environmental Entrepreneurship Program (YEEP), youth build a business selling, installing, and maintaining perennial, native-plant gardens to improve biodiversity and local ecosystems. As a college intern with MS4B, you can put your stamp on this unique, outdoor, project-based program. MS4B is affecting positive change in the way that people look at the environment and their ability to fight climate change in their own backyards.
Team Leader/Mentor – May 27 – August 18, 2019. 35 hours/week. Responsibilities: Supervise a team of 4-8 high school students. Work closely with Senior Staff, other interns, and summer participants to ensure that YEEP summer programs (Waltham, Newton, Cambridge) offer participants an exceptional educational and work experience. Depending on interests and experience, college intern can 1) draft lesson plans and assist in delivering curriculum on business and science-based activities, 2) plan field trips, 3) lead daily work in the field, 4) set up plant sales, 5) serve as liaison with the media, and more. (Content spans areas related to biodiversity, climate change, plant and pollinator/insect interactions and finance, operations, human resources, and entrepreneurship.)
Skills and duties required: Environmental Science background. At least 19 years old. Experience working with teens. Work well as team member and independently. Good judgment. Willing to get dirty. Energetic – strenuous work outdoors — about 15 hours/week. Excel spreadsheet and social media skills. Serve as role model. Ensure safety of students, participate in planning and training sessions, attend conferences, workshops, or other programs, assist in setting up classroom. Dress requirement: shoes (no sandals), hat, dress appropriately for the weather, SUNGLASSES, sunscreen, etc. Miscellaneous duties as assigned. MS4B staff will be available to provide guidance on any issue.
Any questions? Please contact Barbara Passero at 782-209-0052 or [email protected]
JOIN US and BE AN ECO-HERO!
Team Leader/Mentor – May 2019 – August 2019 –35 hours/week
Checklist:
_____Resumé attached.
_____Letter of reference attached from my advisor/supervisor or other relevant person.
_____I have no medical conditions or allergies to bees or grass that would prevent my enjoying
working outdoors.
_____I understand that I will be working outdoors 15 hours/week doing manual labor, supervising
and mentoring teens.
_____I give permission to MS4B to publish my writings or drawings in their publications and on the
Internet.
_____I give permission to MS4B to publish my photo in publications and on MS4B website on the
Internet. I understand that I will receive copies of everything. Please send a copy of the press
release and photos to my home newspaper ______________________________________________.
****Below, describe your interests, accomplishments, and the reasons you would like to work with us.****
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✓APPLICANT Signature: ____________________________________Date: _________________
Please fill out and sign this form and send signed form, resumé, and reference to Barbara Passero at address above. Please keep a copy for your records. We’ll call or email you when we receive your application.
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