How the Green Team Took on Climate, Food, and Community Leadership

As summer comes to a close and the start of a new school year is just around the corner, I find myself reflecting on the incredible journey our young people have taken over the past few months. This summer’s Green Team truly made me proud. They didn’t just participate in a program—they leaned into learning, stepped into leadership, and reminded us all of the power young people bring to our community.

Throughout the season, the team explored how climate change shows up right here at home. They studied the impacts of extreme heat and flooding, not as abstract issues, but as real challenges affecting their neighborhoods and the people they love. They also discovered solutions—learning how to grow food and how community gardens and urban farms serve as so much more than food producers. These spaces are places of connection, resilience, and healing. They help combat the effects of heat islands, ease isolation, and create opportunities for neighbors to come together and thrive.

The Green Team also carried their learning into the wider community. At farmers markets, they shared their knowledge, spoke with residents, and sparked conversations about climate resilience, food justice, and health. In doing so, they built networks and showed us what leadership looks like when young people are given the space to lead.

What stands out most is that these lessons are not temporary—they will last a lifetime. The experiences of this summer will guide the choices they make, shape their future paths, and ripple outward to families, friends, and neighbors. Their growth is proof that when we invest in young people, we are investing in the future of our entire community.

To our Green Team members: we see you, and we are grateful for you. Thank you for bringing your energy, curiosity, and heart to this work. Thank you for asking big questions, for getting your hands in the soil, and for caring enough to imagine a better tomorrow. The roots you planted this summer will continue to grow, and I have no doubt that you will carry these lessons forward in powerful ways.

As community members and leaders, we have a responsibility to keep walking beside you. Together, we can continue to foster resilience, health, and connection—and to nurture the seeds of change you’ve already begun to plant. With young leaders like you at the center of this work, I know our future is in good hands.

— Lesly Melendez