scale organization, reaching more youth throughout the

City of New Haven (and at

some point possibly beyond).

But we want to grow in a way that creates more long-term

contact with youth. There-

fore, we developed the idea

of a Neighborhood Model.

In this model, now being pi-

loted in the Westville Manor

public housing development of West Rock, we are devel-

oping a menu of programs

that reach youth from age 5

to 18. Youth in the commu-nity have opportunities to

Explore! Do! And Teach!

throughout their adoles-

cence. The programs are designed for youth to build

on previous experience, gaining

more leadership and responsibility as

well as skills, knowledge and personal strength.

Here is a sample of

Neighborhood Model Programs:

S TEWARD TEAM: our

keystone pro-gram that guides

youth in (1) exploring

their local commu-

nity, learning ecology a n d te a mw o r k

through hands-on

experiences—Kids Explore!, (2) devel-

oping community service action pro-jects that address an issue in their envi-

ronment - Kids Do!, and(3) teach what

they’ve learned to others—Kids Teach!

C ITYCOLOGY: teenagers are trained

as environmental educators who

then lead programs for younger chil-

dren in their neighborhood.

S ERVICE CREW: youth participate in

weekly projects that help others.

So far in 2008 they have planted a

garden whose harvest will be donated to a local homeless shelter, built raptor

boxes for injured birds, planted flowers

in elderly neighbors yards, removed illegal dumping from the woods behind

their community, and much more.

Volume 7 2007 Year-in-Review NEWSLETTER

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Aviv Aviad

Ed Bonilla

Zoe Brookes

Joe Denicola

Nicole Dunnaville Youth Member

Heather Gilbert

Rebecca Gratz

Javaughn Harris Youth Member

Norris Haynes

Rachel Hereema

Cathy Jones

Shakila McKnight Youth Member

Chris Rector

Joanne Sciulli

Kate Walton

INSIDE see our 2007 accomplishments and how Kids Explore! Kids Do! Kids Teach!

SOLAR YOUTH GROWS UP

WITH STRATEGIC PLANNING

Moet Charles and Kim Barnes hiking in West Rock Park

Nehemiah harvesting sunfowers in the garden

A DVENTURE TEAM: weekly adventures that get youth moving and explor-

ing, such as hiking in West Rock Ridge

State Park, discovering

insects in Wintergreen Brook, fishing and more.

In addition to expanded

programs, our 3-Year Stra-tegic Plan includes build-

ing our organizational ca-

pacity to become a larger

organization, and planning for growth — e.g. raising

the funding to support

expansion. These are to prepare us of

our ultimate goal or replicating the model in other neighborhoods of New

Haven.

Turn the page and see how you can help!

I n 2007, Solar Youth went through its first strategic planning process. Sup-

ported by Empower New Haven,

staff, Board and youth took the oppor-

tunity to reflect on what we have ac-complished in our first 7 years. We then

launched into exciting brainstorming

about where we want to go and who

we want to be. Led by Brenda O’Neil of Lightspeed, LLC and our amazing

committee chair Zoe Brookes, we re-

searched other organizations and in-

terviewed our many stakeholders, eventually coming to some conclu-

sions.

Based on our experiences, confirmed

by research, we see the most powerful outcomes in the youth come about

when there is lasting contact —

when Solar Youth becomes a positive, reliable and con-sistent influence in a young person’s life. One major example

is that of JJ Harris (see page 8).

Jaleesa Freeman, another long-time

participant (youth highlight, page 10),

says it well in her college essay: “Solar Youth has opened many doors for me

and helped me explore many things in

life. I not only learned about my com-

munity but it helped me to explore myself as well. Solar Youth showed me

not only what nature was, but the defi-

nition of leadership, responsibility and

hard work.”

During the planning process, we de-

cided that we want to become a city-

Solar Youth showed

me not only what nature was, but the

definition of leader-ship, responsibility and hard work.

-Jaleesa Freeman

Service Crew ready for trailblazing

Solar Youth, Inc. provides opportunities for young people to develop a positive sense of self, and a connection and

commitment to others through programs that incorporate environmental exploration, leadership and community service.

2007-08 Adult Staff

Joanne Sciulli EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Rosana Garcia PROGRAM MANAGER (SPRING)

Evelyn Diaz

OFFICE MANAGER

Gamaliel Moses PROGRAM DIRECTOR

Elizabeth Studley PROGRAM DIRECTOR

Kimberly Barnes ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATOR

Zeny Pfisterer ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATOR

Jessica Heringer ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATOR

Kelly Misiak ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATOR

Maggie Dressel

ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATOR

2007 Youth Staff

Nicole Dunnaville Jody Ann Purcell

Sara Torres Tatiana Winn Carlene Barnes Bernice Council Dontae Lucky

Shawanda Miller Leshae S. Sparks Tayler West

Valerie Rodriguez Joel L. Suarez

Taleequa Arrington Shanea Lucky

Shakila McKnight Stacey Dixon

Fransmari Dippini Jaleesa Freeman Quanisha Solomon Robert E. Hickerson Science Burress Arthur Mabry Luquaia Melton

Rodnesha Williams-Green Jamika Henry

Jose Benitez-Rivera Aisha Gambrell Aurora Wright Glorive Rivera

Every year we produce a newsletter that highlights our accomplishments. It has

taken a while to get the 2007 Year-in-Review completed, but we feel it essential

to share with our friends, families and partners last years’ adventures.

As the article on the front indicates, 2007 was the beginning of a new vision for

Solar Youth. The first task—piloting our new Neighborhood Model—is well un-

derway. The second two tasks are ones we need your help with.

In order for us to take what we have learned and make a difference in more

children’s lives, as we believe we can, we need the support of a vast network

of people. I encourage you to read about our youth’s accomplishments, and

then think about how, if you also believe in what we do, you can be a part of

it— by becoming a FOSY (Friend of Solar youth through donation), leading us to

resources, or offering help or advice.

Thank you in advance for your interest and support!

Sincerely,

Joanne Sciulli Executive Director

Here are our youths’

suggestions for saving energy.

Go outside Go outside Go outside Go outside instead of watching TV all day

Put on more clothes more clothes more clothes more clothes to stay warm instead of heat.

Ride a bikeRide a bikeRide a bikeRide a bike, or walk instead of a car

Hang clothes Hang clothes Hang clothes Hang clothes up instead of putting in the dryer

Change your light light light light bulbs

Plug appliances into a power strippower strippower strippower strip— this saves energy

E ach year during the April

Spring vacation, Solar Youth

runs a three day program

where youth from our city wide NEIGHBORHOOD STEWARD TEAMS

gather and focus on one theme

as they Explore! Do! and Teach!

Last year staff focused on issues of

energy and climate change.

DAY 1 Based at the ranger station in East

Rock Park (thanks Ranger Dan!),

staff taught youth about energy,

sources of energy, and the differ-

ence between renewable and

non-renewable energy.

After lunch we then used our bod-

ies’ energy to hike to the Summit

of East Rock. In the picture to the

left youth begin their assent up the

Giant Steps.

Day 2 On the second day youth learned

about the natural greenhouse

effect from interns Nicole, Shakila

and Tatiana. Through an active

game and discussions, they

learned about the connection

between energy use and global climate change.

Day 3 On the New Haven Green down-

town, staff led youth in a Energy

Conservation Relay where they

learned different ways to conserve

energy.

Later, in the Children’s Room of the

New Haven Free Public Library,

youth educated children and par-

ents in about what they learned

during the Summit.

SOLAR YOUTH, INC. x PAGE 3

YOUTH SUMMIT—APRIL 2007

Nicole and Tatiana teach the Greenhouse Effect

Youth Summit Stewards and Staff in front of New Haven City Hall

Tenajah and Moet present their energy poster

Juan hangs clothes on a line during Energy Efficiency Relay Race.

At left, Javier plugs appliances into energy-saving power strip.

STREET TEAM for the Spring Season. After the team put a lot of thinking and energy into

developing plans for their C-SAP, the George

Street Team decided on a beautification

project for their community. They worked with Olivia and Rick from Mutual Housing to plant

flowers around their building.

Mutual Housing - Poplar St. The POPLAR STREET TEAM planted flowers in

the empty beds of their new housing devel-

opment with supplies donated by Mutual Housing. They learned how to plant flowers,

what plants need to live, and how to deal

with problems that come up. When some

other kids wrecked some of the flowers, they planted more and put little fences up to pro-

tect them.

Hill Central Teams The HILL CENTRAL 5th Grade Team identified

no recycling bins in the classroom as the problem they wanted to address for their C-

SAP. They reused 35 cardboard boxes to

make recycling bins. The school janitors par-ticipated in the project by committing to

collect the recycling along with their trash

pick-ups.

SOLAR YOUTH, INC. x PAGE 4

Neighborhood Steward Teams (NSTs) are After-school Programs run in collaboration

with NEW HAVEN PUBLIC SCHOOLS and COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS. Fol-

lowing the model Kids Explore! Kids Do! Kids Teach!, adult educators and high school interns guide youth through community and science explorations, the Community Service Action

Project (C-SAP) cycle and in creating a Public Education Project. Based on strong youth de-

velopment principles, the program empowers youth to become positive agents of change.

Westville Manor The WESTVILLE MANOR TEAM started off the

season by learning about natural resource

conservation. They learned about landfills and what happens to trash once they put it

in the dumpster. They talked about the three

R's, decomposition and composting - nature's

way of recycling. They adopted 1,000 com-posting red worms and started feeding them

food scraps. They took soil samples from

around the neighborhood and looked at the different layers, talking about biotic and

abiotic materials in the soil.

The WVM Team decided to focus on the

problem of cigarette butts as litter for their C-

SAP. During their cleanup, youth picked up over 1000 cigarette butts. In choosing their

focus, youth made some good connections

between cigarette butt litter, watersheds and

decomposition, or lack there-of. Their clean-up was followed by a PSA video shoot where

they explain the harmful effects of cigarette

butt litter. WATCH IT NOW! At http://solaryouthinc.blogspot.com

Mutual Housing-George St. Water, Ecosystems, Resource Conservation,

Trees, Cultural differences, Oh My! This was

the lesson plan for Mutual Housing’s GEORGE

The HILL CENTRAL 4th Grade Team learned

about point source and non-point source

pollution. They identified litter in their commu-nity as the problem and organized a clean-

up. Paul Bass, from the New Haven Inde-

pendent, came in to teach the team how to

write an article about their C-SAP and access the website from their school.

John S. Martinez School With help from the City of New Haven’s Liv-

able City Initiative and Grand Paint, the

JOHN MARTINEZ TEAM accomplished their objective of painting over the graffiti on the

building across from the school's playfield. As

a result, they were featured in many local

newspapers and on the New Haven Inde-pendent website! The youth learned that

they can make a difference, and persever-

ance pays off!

Westville Manor This fall the youth of Westville Manor explored the rich natural resources around their

neighborhood, including West Rock Ridge

State Park and Wintergreen Brook, both in

their backyards. They helped put their com-munity garden to bed for the winter and har-

vested the

remaining to-

matoes and peppers they

planted last

spring. For their

C-SAP, Youth saw that a

memorial gar-

den in their neighborhood

was in ...

Barnard School At Barnard Environmental Magnet School,

our NST team had the privilege of spending

our afternoons at West River Memorial Park. After an exciting trip to the Garbage Mu-

seum in Stratford, CT, the team had the idea

of separating the trash that had been col-

lected at the park on many afternoons and making Trash Art with the recyclable materi-

als. Our creative minds worked together to

form some interesting new artwork to spice up the front lobby at Barnard!

SOLAR YOUTH, INC. x PAGE 5

poor shape. They decided to clean up the garden in addition to plant bulbs and design

a new sign for the garden.

Mutual Housing-George St. This season George Street Steward Team

learned about New Haven’s rivers, treking to

Edgewood Park to see the West River. Along with learning about the ecosystem, resource

conservation, and trees, the group did a

cigarette butt clean up around their apart-ment (over 400 butts!) and were photo-

graphed for New Haven Magazine to recog-

nize their community service.

Mutual Housing - Poplar St. Participants at Mutual Housing Poplar Street

revisited Adaptations, Ecosystems, Water-

sheds, Tree ID and Resource Conservation. Since all the participants were returning, new

games and hands on activities were used to

reinforce past topics. They also explored

“Natural Magic” by conducting science ex-periments in the dark and learning about the

unique things nature can do for them. For this

fall season of NST the students were hoping to

volunteer at an animal shelter but due to age restrictions, they brainstormed and iden-

tified another way to give back to their com-

munity. Participants did a clean up in their

community and decided that their commu-nity center needed bigger recycling bins.

John S. Martinez School The Team explored Adaptations, Ecosystems,

Trees, Resource Conservation, Energy and

Climate Change and Natural Magic! Team-building was a major part of every day, as

well as learning how to give back to the

community. Students chose their own C-SAP

project after working through the C-SAP process and decided that garbage was a

major environmental issue in their school’s

community. Over the course of two days

students picked up cigarette buts, card-board, plastic and countless other items.

Truman School This fall was Truman’s first season with Solar

Youth and the kids really got into it! Along

with learning about the ecosystem, water-sheds, adaptations, and resource conserva-

tion, they put their knowledge to great use

by doing a GIANT trash and glass clean up

around their school! The group collected over 25 pounds of glass and was amazed by

how much they accomplished when they

worked as a team!

Hill Central School Youth identified graffiti as their problem. They

decided to create a comic book to hand out in order to educate others about the

issue. They learned that graffiti is an art form

and is not always bad.

Fall Steward Team Staff Training at Camp Whitman

Excerpt from Hill Central's Graffiti Comic Book

SOLAR YOUTH, INC. x PAGE 6

Y outh studied the

ways in which a landscape’s history

shapes its features

and organisms that

inhabit it. We identi-fied native and inva-

sive plants, explored

u rban ecology,

gardens and parks. Some of the places

we visited were the Marsh Botanic Gar-den, Edgerton Park and Outer Island.

Y outh examined the environments in

which animals inhabit. We explored the

place where a species is found, and identi-fied the characteristics of the place i.e. cli-

mate or availability of suitable food or shelter

that makes each location especially well

suited to meet the needs of that species. We explored tidal, inter-tidal and shore ecology

and their animal inhabitants. We studied

The CSSC unites youth from all over

New Haven in an intensive environ-

mental education and youth develop-

ment program utilizing our Kids Ex-plore! Kids Do! Kids Teach! model.

Youth visit different locations in Con-

necticut to learn about the environ-

ment and come up with Community

Service Action Projects to help solve

problems. The summer ends with a

Public Education Project, where friends and family learn about all the youth

learned and accomplished!

S ummer 2007’s theme was Biodiversity. In harmony with our diversity

theme we were fortunate to have a diverse staff from around the

globe: China, Dominica, Kenya, Vietnam and the United States. Each

week educators, interns and campers explored a different topic in depth

through field trips, hands-on lessons and games, and visits from guest

speakers. Here is a summary of what we did!

Culturally Diverse Staff called for

BioDiversity Education this summer! Adult Staff (and place of origin), left: Gameliel Moses (Dominica), Kelly Mahoney (Texas), Cody Norris (New Haven), Yale President Public Service Fellow: Amandla Obooko (Kenya),

Yale China Interns: Anita Nananan(Hong Kong), Ming Nah (Vietnam)

interrelationship of humans, animals and society through a visit to the Yale horse sta-bles with Leg Up, Inc., Mystic Aquarium and

a day with a visiting artist whose work focuses

on the adaptive skills animals use to carve a

niche in developed areas.

F ood is an exploration of culture! What we

consume, how we get it, who prepares it,

who’s at the table and who eats first is a form of communication, rich with meaning. Food

is a bond which brings together families, indi-

viduals, communities and countries. This

week we explored human-based food webs including the cultivation, production and

industry of food by visiting City Seed’s down-

town Farmers Market, picking blueberries at

a local farm, and going on a scavenger hunt in Shaw’s Supermarket! Youth learned that

there are 120 restaurants located within a

two block radius of downtown as they wrapped up the week with a delicious food

tour sampling the diversity of food represen-

tative of the history of ethnic immigration to

New Haven - Thai, Jamaican, Middle Eastern, Japanese, Indian, American, Spanish, etc.

Fall NST Staff Training at Camp Whitman

One of our daily team-building challenges

Snack Magoo and helper Niamke after handing out snack!

SOLAR YOUTH, INC. x PAGE 7

T he CSSC Public Education Forum was held at the New Haven Free Public Library. Everyone played an introductory game which demonstrated that

we all had something in common. Youth then presented what they learned

and what they did for the summer to an audience including community mem-

bers, family members and Solar Youth supporters. Through skits that included audience participation, they taught others about the importance of habitat

conservation on biodiversity and their experiences learning about new cultures.

Then the entire camp lead everyone in a presentation of song and dance.

This program was made possible by the fol-

lowing:

•New Haven Public Schools

•Louis G. Schaneman, Jr. Foundation

•City of New Haven Youth@Work

•Yale President Public Service Fellowship

• Yale China internship program

•Community Foundation for Greater New Haven

•And individual FOSY (Friends of Solar Youth)

Y outh were split into three Teams to go through Solar Youth’s Commu-

nity Service Action Project process. In

this process youth identify problems,

choose a problem to address, re-search that problem, brainstorm solu-

tions, develop action plans, and take

action.

The 2 Step Tigers Team designed

postcards in order to address the problem of global warming. They drew

pictures of actions individuals can do to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide

and methane which causes the

greenhouse gas effect.

The Transformers Team de-

cided to address the problem of stray animals and endangered species. So

they made large posters to encour-age people to protect and care for

the animals we share the earth with.

The Ligers Team believed that

they as campers could do outreach for Solar Youth so they decided to

make an information card about Solar Youth using the lunch trays they col-

lected. This also reinforced the impor-

tance of reducing and reusing things.

K ids learned about the natural systems in

a given environment and how they influence what a village, town or city pro-

duces. In discussions and while visiting the

Mashentucket Pequot Museum we com-pared the material culture of indigenous

and native peoples to that which we pro-

duce today.

Christian and Randell picking (and tasting) blueberries

2007 Youth Staff Plus age and # years with Solar Youth in ()

Shakila McKnight 16 years old (9 in SY)

Jaleesa Freeman

17 (9)

Shanea Lucky 15 (3)

Stacey Dixon 16 (1)

Fransmari Dippini, 16 (1)

Taleequa Arrington

17 (1)

Exploring tidal pools at SCSU’s Outer Island

T his summer we offered a Digital Storytel-ling Program in collaboration with The

Color of Words. a six-week summer program

offered to eight young people ages 14 to 19

led by Magalis Martinez. This program served as a media internship that included compre-

hensive writing and technology based work-

shops where participants developed the fol-

lowing skills: writing, public speaking, presen-tation, critical thinking, digital photography

and digital video production/editing.

Each intern was to complete a digital story— 2-3 minute “mini-movies” which include a

personal narrative (voice-over) accompa-

nied by photos and/or video footage. In their

personal stories they revisited their personal experiences and explored their growth as

young individuals. It was an amazing experi-

ence to have them open up in such ways.

The stories had as much an affect on their audience, composed of family and friends,

as it did on the Interns themselves.

In their own words: I could never forget the day I watched my

personal digital story come to life. It was like

watching my whole life, being summed into 4

short minutes. It made me feel as if I had

done something that very few people get the

opportunity to do, and helped change my

outlook on life into a totally new direction!...

Thanks for not only believing in my work, my

abilities, or my character, but for just... believ-

ing ...in me. - Dontae Lucky, 15

… It’s like I got a second opportunity to do

something different for my life, for the good of

me. Going through the process of making my

own digital story made me a better charac-

ter. It let me see different views of different

things. … I learned how to never judge any-

one, regardless of the standards of which

they live in. … I proved to myself and to eve-

ryone else that i can do anything i put my

mind to. – Shawanda Miller, 15

This collaboration was

supported by

SOLAR YOUTH, INC. x PAGE 8

A collaboration with

J avaughn Harris has been involved with Solar Youth since 2000. He has served as

Youth Advisory Group Coordinator, been a

member of the Board of Directors for 6 years,

and represented New Haven at the Children's

World Summit in Japan in 2005. Last summer

(before starting his senior year of high school)

he started his OWN youth program to serve

the children on his block. The most extraordi-

nary part of the story was that when he called

for some advice, he was not asking if he could

do this. In fact, it never occurred to him that

he couldn’t. We are so proud of JJ and Ca-

price! -Joanne

Thompson Street Youth Coalition By Javaughn Harris

T he Thompson Street Youth Coalition was

founded by Caprice Taylor and myself.

The reason why Caprice and I wanted to

start our own organization was because there really wasn't anything for youth

to do in the Newhallville area of

New Haven. Our first thought

was just have a big awareness event where all the kids from the

Newhallville area could come

and there would be different reps for youth organizations

around New Haven, but as we

started to plan we decided it would be more

effective for us just to have our own program.

As more planning went on I decided to call

Joanne at Solar Youth to tell her about our efforts and what we were trying to do.

Joanne was very enthusiastic and happy to help us with all that she could do, including

getting us in contact with two people that

really helped us in a big way. One was Andy

Boone who gave me guidance on making the actual outline of the program. I had many

meetings with Andy, talking about the pro-

gram side, but also the business side. He let me know people would be

willing to help us more if we had a

fiduciary where people can donate

there money too, so they can feel safe in where their money was going.

I decided that we should ask Solar

Youth to be our fiduciary because

Joanne and Solar Youth were really the reason I realized there was a need for a

youth program similar to Solar Youth in the

Newhallville Area.

Other people that helped were Paul Bass who

got us attention through the New Haven Inde-

pendent online daily, and Andy Ross who

donated a lot of money to help us out.

After all the business was in place it was time for the summer to start. The first day of camp

was very exciting and fun. We started out the

day with all the kids getting to know each

other by playing games and telling stories about themselves. After lunch we took the

kids downtown on the Green to play. I wish I

could say that was how all the days went dur-ing this summer. I learned that anything that

could happen, would happen. That is why this

summer was a great learning adventure. Me

and the staff experienced bus cancellations, not having lunch for the kids, and not even

having a place to hold camp the last few

days.

Some things I learned

this summer was that you always have to

plan, then organize,

then plan again be-

cause you always have to have plan B.

Some other things I

learned were that

mistakes will happen, and the people that

are suppose to really support you and be on

your side are sometimes the ones who will

hold you back.

All in all the summer was really fun and excit-ing. I really learned a lot and the kids did also.

Some of them still call my house asking when is

camp going to start because they had so

much fun, and they cant wait for next year.

Thompson Street youth on the New Haven Green

...we decided it

would be more

effective for us

just to have our

own program.

Youth Start their OWN summer Program Youth Start their OWN summer Program

Clockwise from top left: Geraldine Robinson, Carlene Barnes, Valerie

Rodriguez, Shawanda Miller, Leshae S. Sparks, Dontae Lucky, Joel L.

Suarez, Science Burress, Tayler West, Robert Hickerson

SOLAR YOUTH, INC. x PAGE 9

The mission of the YAG is to is “to advise

Solar Youth on what kids like to do, act as a

youth voice, support the success of Solar

Youth, and help youth grow in their attitudes,

knowledge and skills we will need in the future.

“Don’t litter, don’t litter, don’t litter on the

street. Keep it clean and keep it neat, don’t

litter on the street.”

This is the chorus of the song Jalana Kelley wrote in the Eco Arts and Culture Program. The program, led by Gamaliel Moses, al-

lowed youth to express themselves through different art forms as they learned about the

Carribean environment and cultures. Partici-

pants played Afro-Caribbean drumming

rhythms as they learned about Caribbean ecology (tropical rainforests and volcanic

islands) through storytelling, poetry and

popular theater. Youth wrote poems, songs

and skits then performed them to the sound of drums and other percussion instruments

played by other participants. The program

ended with a ‘Bang’ with the youth perform-

ing for the community at Katherine Brennan School. They also performed at the West

Rock Community Pride Parade and on the

New Haven Green at the International Festi-

val of Arts and Ideas Village of Villages.

HOLA: Hands-on Outdoor Learning Adventure

HOLA is Solar Youth’s in-school program that compliments Connecticut Science Standards

though experiential learning with hands-on, fun lessons. We have continued and expanded our

partnership with Barnard Environmental Studies Magnet School.

R eaching out to over 220 students, each class in the 2nd through 5th grades meets

with HOLA educators four times throughout

the school year to participate in customized

sessions in the tradition of Solar Youth, includ-ing games, songs and hands-on lessons.

W e are excited to have the opportunity

during our 2007-2008 season to intro-

duce youth to the Nature Center in West River Memorial Park, located across the

street from Barnard. Connected by a bridge

over Ella T. Grasso Boulevard, students and teachers have easy and exciting access to

the park.

“I just received notice that your group visited my daughter’s class at Barnard Environ-

mental Magnet School

today” commented a

parent of a 3rd grade student. “The visit had

such a positive impact

on her that she could-

n’t stop talking about it. Please keep up the

good work.”

M arjorie Drucker,

Barnard’s Magnet

Theme Content Coor-dinator, shares that

“Solar Youth provides a hands-on, minds-on

experience that appeals to all learners. The

techniques used are their trademarks and make learning fun. We are so glad to have

them as partners.”

This program was supported through the

school’s Magnet School funding, which

ends this year. We are currently looking for new support to keep the mutually beneficial partnership alive.

I n October, members of the Youth Advisory

Group attended the “Connecting for Change, Bioneers by the Bay Con-ference” in Massachusetts. The confer-

ence is “a hub of practical solutions for re-

storing the Earth and its inhabitants.” Five youth and two staff traveled to Dartmouth,

MA, and met other youth involved with envi-

ronmental and youth leadership work.

Throughout the conference, YAG members were responsible for conducting at least one

interview with a speaker, workshop organizer, or other youth group.

H esitant at first, the youth started

making their way through the crowds of attendees and speakers. Un-

knowingly, they came to interview some

of the most important people at the

conference, including Van Jones—a civil rights and environmental

justice advocate from Oakland, California.

In speaking and interacting with individuals

and organizations with similar goals, simple enthusiasm grew into a vision.

On the last day of the conference, the

Youth Advisory Group was asked to introduce themselves on stage to

the more than 400 conference at-

tendees. They led a game of

“Gotcha,” an ice-breaker, for the entire auditorium. As the members

of the YAG mentioned their number

of years in affiliation with Solar Youth, some going back eight

years, the crowd acknowledged

their commitment with roaring ap-

plause!

S olar Youth YAG members trav-

eled to Dartmouth for the op-

portunity to serve as participants in the Bioneers by the Bay conference

and came back an empowered

group of young individuals.

Arthur Mabry, Nicole Dunnaville, Shakila McKnight, conference

participant, Rodnesha Williams-Green, and Luquaia Melton

The visit had

such a posi-

tive impact

on her that

she couldn’t

stop talking

about it. -from parent email

Performing at the Peabody Museum, MLK Day 2008

Performing on the New Haven Green

SOLAR YOUTH, INC. x PAGE 10

Thank You Rose! Rosana Garcia came to Solar Youth as our Program

Manager in 2005. She kept Solar Youth on task by jug-

gling the day to day administration of programs. She has

moved on to new adventures with Easter Seals/Good Will Industries. Good Luck Miss Rose!

J aleesa has been a part of Solar Youth for half her life. In 1999 she was in our pilot programs,

and was one of the four youth who helped write

our mission, by-laws and vision in 2000. As a

member of the Board of Directors for the first four years, she was an excellent spokesperson for the

organization, and presented at conferences

such as the New England Grassroots Environ-

mental Fund and North American Association for Environmental Education. She has held roles

as participant, intern and youth educator. This

coming summer, at age 18, she may be hired as

an adult staff.

In the last 8 years, we have seen a spinly, sassy,

smart little girl transform into an incredibly

poised, focused and com-passionate young woman.

We are proud to be a part of

her life, and feel honored that

we can call her a co-founder fo Solar Youth.

To contribute to Jaleesa’s

college fund, email

Joanne@solaryouth.com

Left: 9 year old Jaleesa climbing West Rock in 2000

Above: Teaching Farnum Neighborhood House youth, 2006

On Saturdays, we invite members of all Steward

Teams to day-long ad-

ventures, to explore new

places and meet youth from around the city.

Here are highlights:

JALEESA FREEMAN

E velyn Diaz came to Con-necticut in the summer of

2006 from southern California

in search of adventure. She

found more that she bar-gained for here at Solar

Youth! As our first Office Manager, Evelyn organized

our systems, developed poli-cies and procedures, man-

aged our books and has

been a rock of support for

our growing family of staff, youth and volunteers. She has become an indis-pensable partner to SY’s Executive Director in all things organizational.

Regular office visitors Jalana and Teniya learned that she likes music, cheese

and the color purple. She aspires to have a career in audio production and

has taken classes towards that goal. Program Director Beth Studley says that “Evelyn brightens up the office with her positive attitude. You can tell that

Solar Youth is in her heart.”

EVELYN DIAZ

Jan Peabody Museum-MLK Day CATS @ the Shubert Theatre

Mar Sleeping Giant State Park

Harbor Trail with Chris Osyck

Apr Sleeping Beauty @ the Shubert May Edgewood Park

West Rock Hike

East Rock Hike & Canoeing

Freddy Fixer Parade Oct Sleeping Giant State Park

East Rock Park Festival

Mercy Center and Children of

the Earth Foundation Nov West Rock Nature Center

East Rock Park

Trash Museum

Dec Norwalk Maritime Aquarium

With Mayor of New Haven at Freddy Fixer Parade Island clean-up along the West River

Hiking in the rain in West Rock Park Learning to make fird at Mercy

Interns Rodneshia, Luquaia, Aurora & Khaleya

Picking up broken glass from summit

of West Rock Ridge State Park

Castle at Sleeping Giant State Park

F.O.S.Y. F.O.S.Y. 20072007

FRIENDS OF SOLAR YOUTH

Aaron Amason, Joseph Ambrose, Aviv Aviad, Melissa Bailey, Lisa Bassani, Dave Bechtel, Madeline Bergeron, Erica

Bergman, Stephanie Bergman-Hoechster, Berry-Hulin Family, Seth Binder, Alastair Binnie & Zoe

Brookes, Leslie Blatteau, Meredith Blodget, Stuart

Blum, Ed Bonilla, Kyle Bradley, Robert & Katherine Bradley, Josiah Brown, Alisa & Gordon Brown, Bill

Burch, Jodi Bush, Thea Buxbaum, Anne Calabresi, Mitz Carr, Kimball Cartwright, Ev

Cassagneres, Chris Cavallaro, Cynthia Cavalla-ro, Wendy & John Champion, Peter Chapman, Todd Ciccarelli, Shenell Clarke, J. Kieran Coleman, Liz

Cox, Sharon Craft, Lee Cruz, Terry Dagradi, Leanne

Davis, Patrick Dempsey, Ellen Denny, Evelyn

Diaz, William Doheny, Bill Duesing, William

Dyson, Eileen Eder, Deborah Elkin, Marisa Falcigno, Jim Farnam, Harvey Feinberg, Tressa

Ferrell, Jacky Fields, Jesse Fink, Sarah

Fitzpatrick, Alyson Fox, Terry Freeman, Dominic Galardi, David Galt, Matthew Garrett, Zac

Garrett, Daphne Geismar, Chris Getman, Heather

Gilbert, Karen Gilvarg, Michelle Gottlieb, Sharon

Graff, Rebecca Gratz, Greenleaf Therapies, Mille Grenough, Elizabeth Halsey, Maggie Hatcher, David

Heiser, John Heler, Jessica Heringer, Uri

Hershberg, Tom Holahan, Noah Holm, Heather Hurst, Joshua Johnson, Thom Johnson, Cathy

Jones, Illisa Kelman, Jo Kremer, Bill Kurtz, Trina & David Learned, Caitlin & Roland Lemor, David Lewicki, Martin Mador, Tom Malone, Joshua

Mamis, Sabrina Marquess, Tessa Marquis, Maureen McCarthy, Phyllis McDowell, Melissa

McGrath, Robert McGuire, Joan McGuire, Molly

McKay, Jennifer McTiernan, Max MikoLevine, Susan

& David Millen, Meredith Miller, Florence Miller, G. Miller, Ross Mitchell, JoAnne Moore, Julia Moore-

Aiello, Artemis Morris, Elise Morrison, Joelle

Musante, Mark Newhall, Julie Newman, Sara

Ohly, Alison Ormsby, Elisabet Orville, Inge Osborne, Susan Papa, Kim Parent-Hayash, Christina

Park, Melanie Payne, Muffy Pendergast, Stephen

Pendergast, Alice Perry, Dennis Peters, Darren Peterson, Jackie Peterson, Zenaida Pfisterer, Stephen

Press, Dennis Preziosi, Mason Rabinowitz, Gretchen

Raffa, Kristen Rashidi, Brome Rice, Mats & Lauri

Robbins Ericson, Jackel Robinson, Josephine Robin-son & Dean Fischer, Rob Rocke, Randi Ruben

Rodriguez, Beth Rosen, Eva Rosenthal, Marjorie

Rosenthal, Andrew Ross, Renee Ruhl, Duane

Samuel, Jonathan Scheuer, Duncan Schmitt, Joanne Sciulli, Barbara & Frank

Sciulli, Michael & Dina Secchiaroli, Melina Shannon-

DiPietro, Judi Sheiffele, Matthew Short, Claire Shubik, Ina Silverman, Sean Smith, Felicia Smuts, Rob

Smuts, Timothy Speevack, Martha Stone, David

Streever, Shanna Strongin, Christian Taylor, Aisha

Thompson, Kevin Van Aelst, Christopher

VanZenton, Santos Vargas, Cass Vertefeulle, Jennifer Vickery, Janna Wagner, Kate Walton, Emily Watzl, Veitl Watzl, Harry Wexler, Robin

Wingate-Pettway, Robin Winnat, Louise Zemina

BOLD=SUPERFOSY (GIFTS OVER $200)

to our...

State of Connecticut Department of Social Services

Community Foundation of Greater New Haven

New Haven Public Schools

Empower New Haven Non Profit Academy

City of New Haven (Youth@Work and Youth Initiative)

Annie E. Casey Foundation Mutual Housing of South Central Connecticut

Housing Authority New Haven (in kind office space)

Lewis G. Schaeneman, Jr. Foundation

Public Allies of Connecticut

NewAlliance Foundation

United Way of Greater New Haven

Betsy & Jesse Fink Fund

City Wide Youth Coalition

E-bay Foundation

• RETURN ENCLOSED ENVELOPE TODAY! (don't wait)

• Send check to: 53 Wayfarer St., New Haven, CT 06515

• Donate online at www.solaryouth.org

• Sell things on Ebay? Donate a % through Missionfish.org

• Extra Time? Volunteer for trips, Committees or Board

• Tell a Friend—& join the FOSY Posse!

All $$ contributions are tax deductible All $$ contributions are tax deductible

SOLAR YOUTH, INC. x PAGE 11

53 Wayfarer Street New Haven, CT 06515 (203) 387-4189 info@solaryouth.com

www.solaryouth.org

NONPROFIT ORG

US POSTAGE

PAID New Haven, CT

PERMIT NO. 67

In Their Words...

“He knows that is it everyone's responsibil-ity to help out with the

environment.” -Truman School

Team Parent

“[My son] has a difficult time behaving and getting along with other kids and I feel he has learned some valuable

skills this summer.” -Summer parent

“I plan to do some of my own exploring in the future because working at Solar Youth has truly influenced me to go out and try

new things and meet new people.” -Youth Intern

“Thank you and your students for be-ing such a positive force this week-end. ...Everyone in that room Sunday morning was blown away by your kids and they should be very proud

of themselves.” -Kalia Lydgate Organizer of Bioneers By the Bay conference

“She would share her experi-ences on the trips and she

would let me know things she learned about the environ-ment and taking care of it.”

-Poplar Street Team Parent