PGC PORTFOLIO VIDEO PRESENTATION
Wenhao Ren, Hanson Xuan, Chloe Zhang, Ashwin Narayanan
Wenhao is a sophomore at Jericho High School. He is the representative of Team Four Leaf Clovers. Growing up, he always had a connection with nature. Ever since he could remember, his father has been taking him outside to explore the natural world. Whether hiking, fishing, or camping, almost every weekend was an adventure with his brother and father. As time passes and as he grows older, he still wants to continue the tradition of going outside and having fun with his family and hopefully, one day with his children. Therefore, he is extremely passionate about climate change. He, along with many others, wants to share the beauty of nature with other people. Project Green Challenge has helped him realize how much daily commodities and luxuries impact the environment and the climate. PGC has allowed him to understand what actions to take to become more environmentally friendly. As an advocate, his climate action project will help to educate others on the urgent importance of environmental action through a variety of approaches for maximum reach and influence.
Five words to describe PGC: change, enlightenment, enjoyable, effortful, rewarding
PGC PORTFOLIO VIDEO PRESENTATION
Angela Zhu, Lily Li, Kevin Zhu, Naann Shao
Climate Crew 2020 is a team composed of four high school students in Long Island, New York. Angela, Lily, Kevin and Naann met through science research and have become much closer through Project Green Challenge. Angela is a junior who loves to travel to beautiful natural locations and explore various cultures and languages. Even during the pandemic, you can find Angela and her family on hikes, walking the beach, and taking late night strolls with their puppy. Lily, also a junior, is a Chinese-Canadian who moved to the United States from Ontario freshman year. She is passionate about social justice and using science, technology, and coding to create a positive impact on the world. In her free time, Lily loves to rock climb, read historical fiction, and attempt to care for her two struggling houseplants. Naann is a sophomore who loves to spend her time listening to music in the rain while pursuing one of her numerous hobbies, such as drawing, writing, reading, working for various nonprofit organizations or baking. She’s continuously inspired by the natural scenery around her, from the smallest mushroom to distant clouds. Kevin is a sophomore passionate about science research, music and writing. He often spends his time writing poetry, jamming on the piano, and working on various projects in hopes of creating something of meaning to the world. PGC has been a springboard for these young leaders to create substantial changes for a more sustainable society, pushing themselves to fight for climate action and making significant contributions to the environmental movement, unafraid to use their newfound knowledge and voice to advocate for nature, for delicate ecosystems, for vulnerable communities, for what is right.
Five words to describe PGC: eye-opening, invigorating, inspirational, educational, life-changing
PGC PORTFOLIO VIDEO PRESENTATION
Samantha is a 16-year old Chinese-American born in San Francisco and raised in San Leandro. She is a junior at Arroyo High School, where she is vice president and co-founder of the environmental club. Outside of school, she has been playing piano for 9 years and interns at a Bay Area nonprofit to educate others about domestic violence and social justice issues, especially in the Asian Pacific Islander community. In her free time, she likes to play around in Photoshop, draw, read, explore the Bay with friends, and try new foods! Project Green Challenge strengthened Samantha’s understanding of climate issues, shifted her perspective of how intertwined the environment is with everything in life, connected her with global mission-aligned peers, and made her more confident in her ability to pass on knowledge to others as an aware, involved, vocal changemaker.
Five words to describe PGC: marathon, empowering, interconnected, energizing, illuminating
PGC PORTFOLIO VIDEO PRESENTATION
Paulina is a freshman at Universidad de las Américas Puebla in Mexico, majoring in Nanotechnology and Molecular Engineering. She is in love with her country and all of the different natural areas spread through its territory. Sadly, this natural beauty is endangered by social and political problems, insecurity, corruption, and authority abuse. Paulina has transformed throughout Project Green Challenge, learning so much about the environment and gaining a deeper understanding of how to apply knowledge to enact positive change for nature and communities, especially indigenous peoples across her country. In her free time, she likes to read, play the violin and ukulele, sing, dance, do musical theatre, and exercise. She is a passionate person who rarely gives up, works hard for her dreams and is in constant search of knowledge and adventure.
Five words to describe PGC: life-changing, humbling, ineffable, inspirational, motivational
PGC PORTFOLIO VIDEO PRESENTATION
Nicole is a senior at Glenelg High School in Maryland and president of the environmental club. She is super involved in band and loves science, hoping to have a career in biology or environmental science. Project Green Challenge was the perfect ‘crash course’ on all things environment for Nicole, making her feel like she was part of something bigger, learning new things, applying those learnings, becoming more sustainable, getting comfortable leading and educating others. She now believes in herself and unique ability to make a difference among family, friends, classmates and the world.
Five words to describe PGC: eye-opening, meaningful, challenging, remarkable, informative
PGC PORTFOLIO VIDEO PRESENTATION
Harmonie became involved in climate activism in sixth grade and has participated in many facets of ecological preservation ever since. She serves on the leadership boards of New Jersey Student Climate Advocates, New Jersey Youth for Climate Action, and Students for International Divestment. Harmonie is also the New Jersey and LGBTQ+ High Schoolers for Biden Co-Lead, as well as a leader in Princeton High School’s yearbook and Students Demand Action clubs. Someday, Harmonie hopes to double major in Journalism and International Affairs, studying in a big city somewhere around the world. PGC has motivated Harmonie to focus on the many intersectional aspects of climate change and integrate the issues meaningfully into daily thought processes, driving powerful change beyond the too common surface-level solutions that don’t mitigate the crisis or place focus where it is needed.
Five words to describe PGC: enlightenment, justice, collaboration, changemaker, sustainable
Ethan is the Executive Director of Confront the Climate Crisis, the PGC 2020 Third Place Finalist and a West Lafayette Jr./Sr. High School Student. Through multiple organizing efforts, Ethan Bledsoe is galvanizing residents in his hometown and young people across the state to push for meaningful climate action in Indiana. In West Lafayette, Bledsoe co-founded the youth-led West Lafayette Climate Strike, which planned multiple local climate strikes and worked with city officials to pass a climate resolution in 2019. Later, Bledsoe co-authored an amendment to the resolution to establish a 2038 carbon neutrality goal for the city and contributed to West Lafayette’s climate emergency declaration adopted in February 2021. To increase climate literacy in his community, Bledsoe developed a STEM-based, climate resilience campaign called Climate Kidz. The campaign engages local youth on resilience and sustainability through hands-on projects that span vertical gardening, composting, native plants, and little free libraries. Through West Lafayette Climate Strike, Bledsoe helped launch a statewide network for student climate activists in September 2020 called Confront the Climate Crisis through which he is drafting statewide legislation for the 2022 session. He is an active member of the Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter.
Elise is a senior at the University of Kansas majoring in Environmental Studies. She is really passionate about the environment, working with school and local garden projects for eight plus years, as well as at Monarch Watch, which promotes the preservation of pollinators throughout the United States. In her free time, she loves cooking, making art, admiring her house plants, and running a small earring business. Elise was a Project Green Challenge 2020 Finalist and now looks for ways to do everything more sustainably. She doesn’t want to stop learning or making change in her community and seeks to craft a career around environmental justice and working toward a safe, sustainable future.
PGC PORTFOLIO VIDEO PRESENTATION
Cami is a junior at Granada Hills Charter High School. In ninth grade, she began to explore the problems that humans cause in nature and the ways the planet is becoming sick because of those actions, going vegan after discovering the negative effects of the meat and dairy industry on the environment, health and welfare. She has participated in clubs, her school’s Envirothon team to apply science to real-life management and conservation, and now Project Green Challenge to learn more about environmentalism, consciously shift behavior, limit waste, especially food waste, and take part in impactful actions for the good of the planet, while influencing family and friends to do the same.
Five words to describe PGC: informative, empowering, shocking, influential, exciting
