Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful Seeking High School Students for Young Ambassadors Program for 22-23 School Year
(May 17, 2022) Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, in partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), invites Pennsylvania rising 10th -12th grade students to help keep Pennsylvania clean and beautiful through the Young Ambassadors of Pennsylvania program. The program was recommended in the commonwealth’s litter action plan, announced by Governor Wolf, in November 2021. Students will be chosen through a competitive application process.
Chosen candidates will commit to nine months of service as an ambassador and represent and uphold the mission and values of Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful. Other responsibilities include: attending a virtual orientation, four virtual education and training workshops, and up to two virtual networking events, organizing and participating in at least one community cleanup event through Pick Up Pennsylvania, conducting one community education event or activity targeting peers or youth in the student’s community and promoting participation and community impact on social media.
From September through May 2023, Young Ambassadors will build community stewardship by inspiring, engaging, and empowering Pennsylvanians to keep their communities clean and beautiful and develop civic leadership to champion and advocate for clean and beautiful communities across Pennsylvania.
“Litter in the Commonwealth has been and continues to be a major problem,” said PennDOT Secretary Yassmin Gramian. “Annually PennDOT spends nearly $14 million for department personnel to clean up litter from the 40,000 miles of state-maintained highways and 150,000 acres of roadside real estate. We are proud to support this important youth-oriented initiative of Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful as together we seek out stewards of our future.”
“We are honored to offer the Young Ambassadors of Pennsylvania Program in partnership with PennDOT, which seeks to build community stewards and civic leaders by inspiring, engaging, and empowering young Pennsylvanians to not only keep their communities clean and beautiful but also to become ambassadors in their community for our shared vision of a clean and beautiful Pennsylvania,” said Shannon Reiter, President of Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful.
Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful will provide education and training to program participants on such topics related to the impact of litter on roadways, litter prevention, waste management and recycling, civic engagement and related public policy, volunteer management, and social media marketing. The program will provide networking opportunities to not only build a sense of community within the program but also to promote professional development of the individual students.
“We know the students of today hold the key to a sustainable future. We’re excited to work with and guide this group of Young Ambassadors to implement change in their communities and the Commonwealth,” said Reiter.
Students interested in applying should visit keeppabeautiful.org and choose Programs, Education then Young Ambassadors of Pennsylvania or contact Kylie McCutcheon at 724-836-4121 x114 or kmccutcheon@keeppabeautiful.org. Applications open in August.
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About Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful
Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful’s vision is a clean and beautiful Pennsylvania. Since 1990, Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful has worked with hundreds of thousands of volunteers across the state to pick up nearly 152 million pounds of trash from Pennsylvania’s roadways, waterways, greenways, vacant lots, forestlands and other community spaces. Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful’s core programming focuses on litter and illegal dump prevention, cleanup, community greening, and proper waste handling and sustainable practices. Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful works with many partnering organizations on the state and grassroots level to accomplish our goal of a clean and beautiful Pennsylvania. Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful is the state affiliate of Keep America Beautiful, Inc., the nation’s largest volunteer-based community action and education organization. To learn more about Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, visit www.keeppabeautiful.org.
