DC students participate at 'Youth Environmental Summit' in Southeast

WASHINGTON — Children from across D.C. came together Thursday to participate in this year’s Youth Environmental Summit. 

Students from five local high schools all gathered at Southeast D.C. farm “The Well at Oxon Run, in Ward 8, to learn about the world around them.  

"Our goal is for the students to create local action for global impact,” said summit organizer Kehmari Norman. 

The students were taught about water conservation, gardening, cooking, meditation, and even how to interview for jobs. 

"[We] also have them in an outdoor classroom, which the Green Scheme runs here at The Well, where the kids will be planting all types of fruits, vegetables, and herbs," said Ronnie Webb of the Green Scheme. 

The Green Scheme, the DC Department of Parks and Recreation [DPR], and The Well at Oxon Run all helped plan the event, which they say gives kids valuable skills, like how to address food scarcity. 

"What does it mean to have the seeds and the skillset and the land and the resources and the water to actually be able to feed yourself?” said Jaren Hill Lockridge of The Well at Oxon Run.

Her 14-year-old son, Stefan, participated in the event too. 

"I volunteer [at The Well],” he said. “I help plant and sometimes, I help clean up the creek."  

D.C. native Halim Flowers also served as the event’s keynote speaker. He spent decades behind bars after being accused of crimes he did not commit. Flowers said the children at the summit need to take advantage of opportunities like these. 

"You can impact the world constructively,” said Flowers. 

In other words, it’s all about planting a seed. 

"When you provide people with access and education, then it opens up the mind," said DPR park specialist Jacqueline Ellison.