PennDOT, Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful Name Students Chosen for New Young Ambassadors Program

EIN Presswire The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful (KPB) today announced the slate of Young Ambassadors of Pennsylvania for 2022-2023. The new-to-Pennsylvania program 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 become ambassadors in their community for a shared vision of a clean and beautiful Pennsylvania.

The program, being administered by KPB, was recommended in the commonwealth’s litter action plan, announced by Governor Tom Wolf in November 2021. Students applied to the program and were chosen through a competitive application process.

The students have committed to eight months of service as an ambassador while representing and upholding the mission and values of KPB. From October through May 2023, they will also develop civic leadership skills and experience to champion and advocate for clean and beautiful communities across Pennsylvania.

2022-2023 Young Ambassadors of PA:

Allegheny County

• Andy Forrester, Grade 11, Pine-Richland High School;
• Cale Klaff, Grade 12, Pine-Richland High School;
• Eli Majocha, Grade 12, Highlands High School; and
• Luke Anderson, Grade 10, Pine Richland High School.

Bradford County

• Corben Conklin, Grade 11, Athens Area High School.

Butler County:

• Carmen Skal, Grade 12, Butler Senior High School.

Cambria County

• Jensen Westrick, Grade 12, Central Cambria High School; and
• Maddie Ostinowsky, Grade 12, Bishop Carroll Catholic High School.

Chester County

• Henri Brunel, Grade 12, Conestoga High School; and
• Naomi Tzoanos, Grade 11, Owen J. Roberts High School.

Columbia County

• Brady McNamara, Grade 11, Central Columbia High School.

Cumberland County

• Ania Chandra, Grade 12, Cumberland Valley High School;
• Morgan Stellfox, Grade 10, East Pennsboro Area School District; and
• Zahra Anjum, Grade 11, Cumberland Valley Virtual Academy.

Dauphin County

• Eleana Rijo, Grade 10, Susquehanna Township High School.

Delaware County

• CJ Chen, Grade 11, Strath Haven High School; and
• Sage Baker, Grade 10, Strath Haven High School.

Erie County

• Emma Burkett, Grade 12, Northwestern High School;
• Tanvi Udgiri, Grade 11, Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy; and
• Gianna Stewart, Grade 11, Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy.

Indiana County

• Anna Layden, Grade 11, Purchase Line Junior Senior High School; and
• Via Krimin, Grade 12, Indiana Area Senior High School.

Lackawanna County

• Grace Beckish, Grade 10, North Pocono High School.

Lancaster County

• Stella Blue Weaver, Grade 12, JP McCaskey High School.

Lehigh County

• Adrian Chavez, Grade 10, Nazareth Area High School; and
• Siddhant Khandelwal, Grade 12, Parkland High School.

Lycoming County

• Jaden Nixon, Grade 12, St. John Neumann Regional Academy.

Monroe County

• Rese Schlameuss, Grade 11, East Stroudsburg High School South.

Montgomery County

• Claudia Brach, Grade 12, Perkiomen Valley High School;
• Ri Sringari, Grade 12, Perkiomen Valley High School; and
• Rudra Patel, Grade 12, Souderton Area High School.

Philadelphia County

• Minping Nie, Grade 11, Central High School.

Pike County

• Fawn Dutcher, Grade 10, East Stroudsburg High School North; and
• Angelique Smalls, Grade 11, East Stroudsburg High School North.

Washington County

• Abby Salzman, Grade 12, California Area High School.

KPB will provide education and training to program participants on such topics related to the impacts of litter, 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 the professional development of the individual students.

For more information about the program and the Young Ambassadors, visit the program page or contact Kylie McCutcheon at kmccutcheon@keeppabeautiful.org.

The Wolf Administration released its Litter Action Plan in 2021 in response to a 2019 Pennsylvania Litter Research Study which found Pennsylvania has more than 500 million pieces of litter on its roadways. The action plan includes strategies for all Pennsylvanians to fight litter in their communities. As part of the plan, the state launched a public awareness campaign, PA Fights Dirty, this summer. The campaign calls upon Pennsylvanians to ensure every piece of their trash, regardless of size, is disposed of properly.

PennDOT provides many additional litter cleanup volunteer opportunities, including Adopt-A-Highway, Litter Brigades, and more at their roadside beautification web page.

Read Entire Article