Graduating Green!

Last Thursday, the graduates of the 2010-2011 Green & Grow program said their final words to Conservancy staff and Green & Grow supporters. As part of the graduation ceremony, each apprentice gave a presentation about his or her experience in the program.

Green & Grow apprentices receive their certificate of completion.

Here’s a highlight from one of the inspiring speeches:

“I am truly grateful for the experience that I have had being in the Green & Grow program. This program has allowed me to learn to love nature and to appreciate it more. I must admit that before this program, I was not into nature at all. I didn’t find any importance in trees or their leaves. But over the course of being here, I have learned how delicate and important nature is. If it wasn’t for the trees, there would be no oxygen, and without oxygen there would be no life on earth. I never thought I would be digging in dirt, pruning trees and shrubs, weeding crazy weeds or even digging trenches to help build an irrigation system. I was never the type to do a garden bed design, with multiple models. Or to even climb mountains that were a thousand feet!

But I did it and I learned that nothing is too hard. If you put your body, mind, heart and soul into it, you can accomplish anything. I learned how to persevere and to be patient. I also learned how to handle conflict and work better as a member of a team. These are skills that I will take with me to Branching Out this summer and to other jobs for the rest of my life.”

Green & Grow Graduates

After 9 months of greening the parks and growing their skills, these talented young adults will graduate into new job opportunities this summer. We are proud to announce that all of our graduates have obtained jobs for the summer and that four will return as Green & Grow summer interns. Look for these familiar faces this summer in the parks!