A little bit of networking, little bit of cleaning, and a whole lot of bright futures ahead!

Weeks before students had to load the school buses for their first day of school, students from King College Prep and the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences hoped on the bus to join professionals from all across the green job industry to share best practices, network and come together to clean up 41st street beach.

Partnering with CITGO, the Chicago Parks Foundation hosted representative from the Chicago Park District, Accenture, REI, TruSweets LLC, Alliance for Great Lakes, and other leaders in the industry to share how they got started in the green job industry and the integral role Chicago students can play in its future. Students were presented with green ambassador journals and their own personal business cards to facilitate networking and encourage them to reach out to the professionals from leading industries.

After a great morning, everyone headed to 41st street beach to work side by side to clean up the lake front. Led by the Alliance for Great Lakes team members, the group collected, measured and logged trash to contribute to the Alliance for Great Lakes’ data base of the debris found on the beaches. In a few short hours, the group collected over 30lbs of trash.

Thanks to the help of CITGO, we were able to bring the conservation leaders of today and the innovators of tomorrow together for a cleaner future for us all!