Gabriela Blog #2 Environmental Justice Conference Youth Leadership in Nature Challenge D.C.

Gabriela Bravo, Senior, Houston East End Greenbelt GreenSchools! Green Ambassador and Cheerleader – Austin High School; (Serves Jackson Middle School)

My name is Gabriela Bravo. I’m 17 years old, I currently attend Stephen F. Austin High School as a senior. I am a Cheerleader, a tennis player, and I’m also a GreenSchools! Ambassador. I joined the movement when I was a sophomore, I was inspired by my teachers Mr. Juan Elizondo, Mr. David Salazar and especially Dr. Tamberly Conway from the U.S. Forest Service. I witnessed and felt all the energy they had! They believed in us, they believed that we could take charge and restore our community and to set an example for the youth looking up to us! So I got interested in the program and joined. I kept active in this movement because I think about the future, and how we want our new generation to understand the importance of taking care of our land and the importance of us, as the new generation to stand up and have our voices heard and to help better our environment!

In this movement I have seen numerous teenagers get involved, and give back to our community. The most important thing to me is that we as Green Ambassadors inspire youth and pass on the conservation message to do the right thing which is to reduce, reuse, recycle, rot and restore. With the mission to help our planet, and to also keep this movement spread all over nation and other countries, so we can come together and think of wise decisions as a collective.

The thing I enjoy the most about being a Green Ambassador is being able to teach the youth, to see how excited the kids are of doing things in the garden or just learning how a tree functions, and how to plant a tree. The career field I’m seeking to get into is in the Science field. My plans after graduating from high school is to attend Houston Community College and then transfer to a university and continue studying. During my college years, I will work as a College Green Ambassador. I will be training and working with high school Green Ambassadors, strengthening their communication and teaching skills and getting them ready to be leaders in our community.

With this movement being able to expand throughout country, it will be amazing because we would know how to restore our lands. If we keep being active and grow our own foods, veggies and fruits, the obesity and diabetes rate would decrease. It would also give high school and middle school students opportunities to open their minds, expose them to nature and how we can make a change in our communities, and to also introduce them to career opportunities for the future.

This program helps our voices be heard on what we want and what we don’t want! We want a movement that would be a good outcome for the future where families could just walk through our neighborhood and have a fresh fruit from the trees we planted in the East End. To be proud to walk around our neighborhood and experience a beautiful outdoor environment created by the youth, the future leaders and stewards of our community.