Say Hello to Rebecca, a Senior at Soquel High and 3rd year YEA Leader. Rebecca has a multitude of hobbies, from music and sports to baking. When she’s not playing lacrosse, she’s advocating for better waste management at school. Rebecca found YEA while looking for a way to take action for the environment, and since then has made meaningful contributions to her school. 

One of these meaningful contributions was the compost bin she secured for her campus after leading a waste audit, and she’s not stopping there. Since then, she has led a high impact waste sorting event at school where she supported her peers in their sorting practices. Her goal is to establish a permanent and functional 3 stream waste system on campus before graduating. This meaningful climate action does not go unnoticed. During these three years, she’s enjoyed strengthening her communication skills and learning about systems in place. 

Rebecca plans on attending a 4-year university in the fall, and hopes to pursue a master’s degree in environmental science after. She’s passionate about sustainable infrastructure, and wants to continue to help her community as a career. Rebecca says that YEA provided her with the foundation she needs for a future in environmental science, and is grateful for the community the group provided her. If you’re hesitant about joining YEA, she says to just do it! You’ll learn a lot and make great connections.

Meet Dahlia, a motivated Sophomore from San Lorenzo Valley High School! Dahlia enjoys anything active, from playing soccer to surfing. When she’s not on the field, she enjoys going to the beach and collecting sea glass. Dahlia was in search of a way to turn her remorse over the state of the environment into action, and YEA was the perfect outlet.

Dahlia joined YEA in fall of 2025 after seeing them at a club tabling event. She had always considered herself environmentally conscious, and was ready to find community and take action. And take action she did! Dahlia helped lead our first ever middle school waste audit, saving 75lbs of food waste from the landfill! She also led an audit at SLV High, bringing together a dedicated group of volunteers. Beyond the Trash Pact, Dahlia is also committed to promoting local biodiversity. She’s currently working on establishing a native plant garden on her campus, and hopes to finish this before the end of the school year. 

Dahlia says that YEA has taught her many important communication skills, and also provided her with a strong community. She hopes to use these skills to attend a 4-year university, and is interested in subjects like biology. She enjoys staying active, and wants to join a field where she can be social and help others. If you’re interested in taking environmental action in your community, Dahlia says to join YEA – you won’t be disappointed!

Meet Sylvi Kayser! She is one of YEAs longtime environmental leaders at Aptos High and has been on the Leadership team since 2022. When they’re not advocating for sustainability initiatives, you’ll find them with a book in hand, drafting a new poem, or spending some time with his cat Leia and dog Kesä. 

Sylvi joined YEA as a freshman after hearing about it from their biology teacher. Starting on the support team, Sylvi quickly grew into a leadership role, helping pave the way for change at her school. One of their favorite moments was leading a waste audit, sharing the results at the YEA Summit, and presenting to the PVUSD superintendent and County Board of Education. After years of work, seeing green bins finally installed was a tangible sign that his hard work made a difference. 

This year Sylvi hopes to attract more new members to YEA, especially from Aptos, and build a stronger support system on campus. Looking back on their time in YEA, Sylvi says it has connected her with other like-minded students about sustainability, and helped him see how small steps can lead to real change. They’ve also grown more confident speaking with community officials and tailoring his message to different audiences. Looking ahead, Sylvi is planning to attend the University of Cambridge for English. In the future, she intends to obtain a bachelor's degree in English and work towards a PhD. Sylvi also hopes to publish a chapbook of their own poems and mentions that if she returns to Aptos High School, he hopes the green bins will still be there and will be utilized.

Say hello to Leilani Winkler! Leilani is a science enthusiast and Junior at Harbor High School. She has a multitude of interests, from language learning to scuba diving, and loves the environment. Her love for the environment is what drove her to join YEA.

Leilani joined YEA in fall of 2025 after seeing an email from the Santa Cruz County Office of Education. She had always been environmentally conscious, and thought the group would give her some opportunity to explore that. YEA turned out to be much more engaging! She learned she could make real change in her school, and led Harbor High’s first waste audit back in November. Here, Leilani recruited over 20 volunteers and saved over 80lbs of food waste from the landfill - a huge impact!  Now, she’s working on promoting proper waste sorting practices at her school. Beyond the Trash Pact, she also wants to beautify her campus with more native plants. She hopes this will not only benefit student experience, but also local pollinator populations. 

Leilani plans to use these experiences in YEA to pursue a degree in environmental microbiology. She has had fun understanding the different systems in place that make a school function. She also enjoys connecting with different people from organizations, understanding it will benefit her in the future. Learning research skills in YEA will provide a solid foundation for this work. As she says, “we are all a part of nature,” and she intends to do the work to care for our ecosystem.