Summer 2014 BEETS Graduate!

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On Thursday, August 7, 2014 the Summer 2014 BEETS (Band of Environmentally Educated and Employable Teens) had a graduation ceremony at Hayes Valley Apartments Community Room in San Francisco. Parents, friends and former BEETS alumni came out to enjoy the festivities.  
All summer long the BEETS explored the importance of water conservation by visiting farms, wastewater treatment facility, designing water-wise gardens and and touring the green LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) Public Utilities Building in San Francisco. They took what they learned and designed activities to teach the community how to use water sustainably.
From new garden skills to teaching younger youth how to appreciate nature, our teens made a positive impact in the community.
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Congratulations to the following teens:
Amanda Jack
Angie Lemus
Candy Williams
Deondre Walker
Ivan Galdamez
Jahnae Stanford
Jairo Villalta
Kyle Patterson
Maceo Mayorga
Monique Adams
Roderick Irby
Windy Pun
The BEETS program is a paid green job training program for 15-19 year olds primarily living in the Western Addition neighborhood of San Francisco. Our interns learn how to maintain community gardens, assist teaching garden classes, and attend workforce development workshops.
Here is a short video of the day when we gave our awards and gift certificates to the youth and our wonderful volunteer, Melanie Chan. In this video we honored our longest running BEET, Candy Williams, who joined the BEETS in 2008, and finally completed three sessions with us this summer. She is a student at City College of San Francisco. Congratulations Candy and all the BEETS!