The first week of I-YEL session 12

The first week of the 2012-2013 I-YEL session is in the books! A group of 23 teens from all over San Francisco (and other places in the Bay Area) finally formed for a weekend full of exciting events and team bonding. While Wednesday was full of introducing the 10 new interns and their parents, Friday and Saturday was when all the fun began. 

After a long day/week at school, the I-YEL interns met at the wonderful Crissy Field Center for a BBQ dinner to get to know each other a little more before the evening festivities. While the food (cooked by Chef Sam Tran) was yummy and nutritious, getting to the lesson plans created by our returning interns was much more intriguing. We had activities such as introducing the YEL culture to the new interns to going on a night hike along Mountain Lake (led by the always charismatic Ranger Fatima Colindres). 

After a night of fun and bonding until late at night, Saturday was filled of getting inspired and educated. The team of exhausted, but energized interns took a small trip across the bay to Oakland to attend a festival called Life is Living. The event was intended for teens to come out and learn more about energy efficiency, the difference about trash and compost, how to use fossil fuels efficiently, etc The point of this trip was to inspire us for potential YEL projects in the future. This day in general was to help engage youth to the parks and learn what’s happening in their communities. 

A couple new interns, Marvin (senior) and Narimon (junior) were both really excited for the rest of the year after the weekend concluded. 

“I thought this weekend was fun, unexpected, surprising, encouraging and motivating.” Said Marvin.

“In 5 words, this weekend was very friendly, motivating, very social, had a nice community and great.” Said Narimon. 

Narimon looks forward to hopefully landing an internship with the Crissy Field Center’s middle school program; Urban Trailblazers, while Marvin looks forward to the upcoming snow trip to Yosemite.

It’s safe to say this year has high hopes for being a very successful one with the amount of strong minds we have.

HERE’S TO THE 12^TH YEAR OF I-YEL!

-D'Quan Stewart (Pictures taken by Silver Huang)