Voices of the Summer Institute participants

This is what the youth this summer thought of the program:

"I am grateful for having the opportunity to work and learn with a team and share our ideas with each other. I am grateful to have learned more about our climate, pollution, asthma and the uneven distribution of resources between zip codes in the Bay Area and California."

– Cynthia Chavez

“I’m grateful for everything! The food, the staff and the fieldtrips! I loved the field trips! They were always fun and informative. I really liked that we got to go outside and practice hands on learning on our fieldtrips. I learned Oakland was not as bad as I thought it was. There is subtle beauty hidden in my city.”
– Angelina Li

“I am grateful to have learned about the environment. I never knew so much about my environment until I got into this program. The summer program also got me to step out of my shell, speaking out more and being less shy.

I think we should interview people from the street and tell them about how they can make the changes they want to see in their community to make their vision of a better neighborhood come to life.”

– Brenda Barron

“I’m grateful for being in this program and interacting with a lot of different people. I liked being shown things like super fund sites, the Chevron oil refinery, the Eco-Center and wetlands in the Bay Area.”

– Tanika O’Guinn

"I am grateful for the learning experience through the sustainability education taught by the New Voices Are Rising program.

One thing that could be improved is the amount of hours in the program. I want more hours!"

-Stephen Vance

(We are always working to secure more funding...maybe next year!)

“I am grateful for having learned during the summer program about the different ways to help/save my community and city, the different types of negative impacts of climate change and global warming and the different effects of pollution.”

- Priscilla Seng

“I am grateful for learning about the organization of local governments and how it relates to policy.” – Euchari Murray-Graham

“What was surprising was how much I enjoyed myself. I didn’t think that it would be boring, but it was just a whole lot more fun than I thought. I was surprised that I could open up to so many new people.

I’m grateful for being in this program. The internship with the Rose Foundation and New Voices are Rising was way better than I expected. I learned a lot about my community’s health and how the area you live in can affect your health.”- Amy Wong

“Being a part of the New Voices are Rising was a great experience and provided me with information to make the world healthier! This program is something everyone needs to take action to be a part of. Learning about pollution, health, water and housing issues were just some of the topics we covered. New Voices taught me that we need to stand united as a community and fix these big environmental issues!”

– Taylor Murray

“Why should we do something about helping our planet? Because we live here and its our home. It provides us with the resources we need to live.” – Quailyn Scott