The future of our environment lies in the hands of our teens, and we couldn’t be more excited!

Earlier this month, our Environmental Education department hosted one of our favorite events, The Youth Leadership Summit. Every year we invite students from all over the County who are eager to change the future of LA’s environmental up to our hilltop for a day to build and hone their leadership skills with other like-minded teens.

We were ecstatic to have over 40 eager young minds from 10 different schools join us this year. Together they developed project ideas that could be implemented on their campuses to make LA a more sustainable place to live.

During the Summit, the youth leaders sampled activities from our TreePeople Project Toolkits to familiarize themselves with our education style here at TreePeople. One toolkit required students to team up and become experts on an environmental issue by creating an infographic around the topic. They also got their hands dirty while conducting a soil texture exercise!

We made sure to keep the fun following throughout the day with a Recycling Relay Race and Environmental Teen Bingo! SO fun!

A fresh aspect of this year’s Summit was an Ideas and Inspirations Tour of our TreePeople hilltop. The recent rains have awakened our park, making it the perfect time for us to share all of the sustainable solutions our park has to offer.

All students left with a “Kickoff Project” in hand along with California Poppy seed packets to help them take the first steps to beautify their campuses.

There is nothing like witnessing the spark that ignites theses students’ passions and inspires new connections. We can’t wait to see the green future these young leaders create through the amazing climate-ready projects they implement on their campuses and in LA’s communities this year!

Are you ready to join the ranks of these youth leaders and help green your school? Start an EcoClub today!