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

Jason Rodriguez, Sixth grade, Houston East End Greenbelt GreenSchools! Green Ambassador - Jackson Middle School

 My name is Jason Rodriguez, I am a GreenSchools! Green Ambassador at Jackson Middle School in Houston, Texas. I have been in this program for two years, taking action in my community by taking care of it and restoring our land and health. In my school, I started the Green Army that recycles materials, we also compost organic matter to produce nutrients for the fruit trees that we planted at my school with the help of the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation and the GreenSchools! Green Ambassadors from Furr High School, Austin High School and the University of Houston.

The GreenSchools! Green Ambassadors have helped me take care of the fruit trees and taught other students how to care for them throughout the year and the seasons. I have also planted a peach tree in my yard to show my neighbors if I can do it, you can do it!  It’s been making me feel like a leader, brainstorming upcoming projects which may surprise students and coming together for a good cause.

I was able to accompany my big brother Emerson camping in Galveston with the Youth Leadership in Nature Challenge program hosted by Latino Legacy, I was canoeing… and I reflected how Native Americans traveled through the lands and the same body of water. I was also able to visit NOAA Fisheries Sea Turtle Galveston Laboratory, I learned about the turtles that have been washing up on beaches because of the pollutants in the water.

In the future, I want to be and organic farmer and a pilot, so I can seed bomb all over the world and then everybody can have trees in their yards with fruits to eat healthy. With our actions, we may reduce climate change and aim to use less fossil fuels and come up with an organic solution. Maybe one day we can stop the melting of the North Pole and save the polar bears.