of Cape Cod Life
SPOTLIGHT: The Voice of Youth
By Allison Graham
THE WINDS SWEEPING in off the ocean on a strikingly beautiful Cape-gray day last fall couldn't sway the commitment and determination of 20 teenagers who had come together to discuss the future preservation of Cape Cod.
"We stand before you as the tide of change," the young people from eight Cape towns read in unison from the porch of the Coast Guard Station at Coast Guard Beach in Eastham as waves crashed, sending a spray of moist salt air over the parents, business owners, media, and political leaders who had gathered to hear what the children had to say. "We call out to each and every one of you to join us.''
The press conference concluding the weekend-long Cape and Islands Youth Council on Sustainability was also a beginning, the students hope, of a plan that will create "real, practical, specific solutions on how to work toward a sustainable future on Cape Cod and the Islands." The plan highlights eight areas for action: green tourism, water issues, habitat management, human community, animal community, waste management, energy, and business. For each area, a 16-page plan gives student-developed guidelines for individuals and communities to follow.
The summit is the brainchild of Jessica Rimmington, a junior at Cape Cod Academy, and Joe McGrath, a senior at Nauset Regional High School. Last year, the two students were chosen by the Jane Goodall Institute to represent the United States and Goodall's Roots & Shoots youth program at the Children's Earth Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, which was held in conjunction with the United Nations' World Summit on Sustainable Development. Inspired by that experience, Rimmington made a personal commitment: "I wanted to spread the idea of sustainability and to involve my community in the process," she says. Sharing Rimmington's enthusiasm, McGrath agreed to help found the youth council.
To get assistance in creating their management plan for the future, the students convened a panel of experts that included Seth Wilkinson, Brewster's conservation administrator and the owner/builder of a completed "green house" in Orleans; Henry Lind, Eastham's conservation administrator; Paula George of the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority, and Chris Powicki, who works with the Cape and Islands Renewable Energy Collaborative. The panel fielded questions from 18 students who then brainstormed, researched, compiled information, and crafted the plan, working around the clock on computers powered by Tom Wyman's renewable energy trailer, which was parked outside.
The grounds of Eastham's Coast Guard Station, where the summit was held, were particularly appropriate for the students' project: Sounds of the ocean and people actively enjoying nature serenaded them, reminding all involved how lucky they are to call this place home. Likewise, a common theme arising from the discussions conveyed how blessed residents are to live where: an osprey can be seen catching fish in Orleans Town Cove; whales surface off Provincetown's Race Point; and coyotes and foxes leave tracks in the sands of Marconi Beach in Wellfleet. Backyard visitors may include raccoons, deer, sharp-shinned hawks, and red-bellied woodpeckers. Many are unaware that as they drive to work or ride to school they pass fields, ponds, marshes, and forests that contain delicate ecosystems.
Ultimately, the students hope their plan will inspire each person who loves living here to understand that there's no time like the present to commit ourselves to the sustainable future of Cape Cod.
Allison Graham of Eastham is the coordinator of Jane Goodall's Roots & Shoots program at the Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School in Orleans, where she is also a teacher.