Growing young leaders and trees

What’s New with Young Leaders and Trees?

It has been a very busy summer indeed for youth leaders and trees here in El Segundo.

Changing of the Guard

On July 25^th we held our Annual Board Retreat where our youngest Youth Manager Lucas, age 10, all the way up to our graduating seniors, all sat along-side our adult board members to discuss the matters of the organization. Everything was on the table, from fundraising to outreach, and all of our Youth Managers contributed a fresh and different perspective as only they can.

“It was really interesting to see how the business works behind the scenes.”
~Lucas, 10

Toward the end of our board retreat we elected our new President, Fernando, age 16, and gave a fond farewell to our graduating Youth Managers, Raquel, Lina and Talia. All three of these young ladies have been with us for many years and we will miss their leadership and commitment to the environment. They have all started as freshman at three very prestigious colleges and universities on the east coast.

Summer LEAD Courses

Our 2016 courses had an extremely successful turnout. Each course was overbooked with many students completing all four classes, making them eligible to apply to join the Youth Management Team!

Graduates learned Personal Skills, People Skills and Organizational Management in the Youth Management Series taught by our Executive Director Gail Church. These classes help students in all aspects of life from improving their personal relationships with friends and family to projecting leadership with body language and attire in any situation. After that we had a bright group of members join us for the Public Speaking Course. Students learned how to think on their feet…literally...answering questions, not just about themselves but about their community and the world at large, all at the drop of a hat. Public Speaking was taught by our long-time Adult Partner and Advisory Director, Catherine Magruder, a veteran toastmaster and South Bay resident.

It all culminated on August 15th, at our Summer LEAD Graduation where we celebrated each student’s achievement with staff, family, friends and Youth Management Alumni at the El Segundo City Council Chambers.

Our new President was the event’s Toastmaster and short speeches were given by previous LEAD Graduates including Youth Management Team Alum and Advisory Directors Blake Parker, Julian Poyourow and Adam Gerard.

Our New Class

After graduation we received applications from many of our LEAD Graduates to join the Youth Management Team and we happily accepted six new members! With such a large incoming class we are excited to get them trained and out leading the environmental movement in our community.

Over the coming months our new arrivals will be co-managing events with our senior Youth Managers and they will also be leading the way in planning and executing our 4^th Annual Made a Difference Day volunteer event coming up in late October.

New Adult Partners

Lastly, we trained a new class of Adult Partners, including Susan, Gregory and Louise. Although our APT course is not for our youth, training our Adult Partner Team members is an integral part of what keeps our Youth Managers active in the community on a consistent basis.

What is next for Young Leaders and Trees?

Soon planting season will be upon us and with that comes a whole host of planting events, from Memory Tree ceremonies to Arbor Day, and we can’t wait to dive in!

You can’t wait either? Glad to hear it! Hop on over to our Volunteer Calendar and see where you can lend hand: https://treemusketeers.org/tree-musketeers-volunteer-calendar/

As always, thank you for your continued support!

Links:

• Congratulations to Our LEAD Course Graduates!
• Tree Musketeers Volunteer Calendar