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Past Success

Before the world was disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, we offered several programs for high school students involving sustainability and workforce readiness including entrepreneurship. Covid-19 dramatically changed the employment landscape, and we are no longer able to work with high school students or operate our retail social enterprise store. Regardless, these programs comprise a significant achievement for our small organization and we are proud of the hundreds of young leaders we worked with, the 16,000 hours of internships we funded, and the innovative retail store that provided real-world customer service experience for our students while introducing community members to more sustainable choices.

Students

Sustainable Business Interns

From 2020 – 2023, we involved young adult interns in our social enterprise retail store, The Perennial Bee. Our interns manufactured sustainable products, managed inventory, fulfilled online orders, waited on customers, created window displays and assisted with marketing and signage design. Through this unique opportunity, our interns received first hand experience with how to run a small business in a sustainable way.

Read more about our retail store and what our students said about the program and the impact on their thinking.

“I appreciate that the interns are actively involved in all the decisions for the store. And I love the fact that everything we do is guided by our overarching concern for the environment. I hope to have my own business someday and I have learned so much that will help me!” – Intern

Excelerate Workforce Leadership

For 13 years prior to Covid, we ran a workforce leadership program called Excelerate for 11th and 12th grade students. Students learned and practiced skills including problem solving and communication. They researched careers, created career plans, wrote a resume and developed a LinkedIn profile. They participated in mock practice interviews and job site visits, and every lesson included sustainability at home and the workplace. Students who completed Excelerate were eligible for paid summer work experiences described in the next section.

 We have two formal workforce development program evaluations:

2018 Evaluation by Dr. Connie Campbell
2015 Evaluation by Dr. Alexis Petri

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Summer Work Experience

For 13 years prior to Covid, students who completed all Excelerate components earned a paid summer work experience aligned with their career goals. Green Works staff arranged the work opportunities and Green Works covered the cost of the student stipends. Over 13 years we funded more than 16,000 hours of paid work experience for our students.

Watch Shahid at his internship at KCPT.
Watch Roxana at her internship at at KC Univ. of Med. and Biosciences.
Watch Jose at his internship at SquareOneStudio.
Watch Keyaira at her internship with the Missouri Department of Conservation.
Keylen
Watch Keylen at his internship at the Kansas City Zoo.
Brandon
Read about Brandon’s internship with the Missouri Department of Conservation.
Listen to our segment on 90.9 The Bridge Give Back Friday.
Brandon helped the Mo. Dept. of Conservation monitor wildlife populations.
Jabria worked with the EPA stream monitoring team.
Keylen enjoyed waiting on customers at Habitat Restore.

ECOS Nature Club Registration

    Spring 2024 ECOS Nature Club begins March 30th at the Anita B. Gorman Discovery Center, and runs from 9:30am - 12:30pm. Nature Club is funded by the Children's Services Fund of Jackson County. If your child is outside Jackson County, they will be placed on a waiting list.

    Student name (required):

    Elementary or middle school student attends (required):

    Grade in Fall 2023 - Spring 2024 (required):

    4th5th6th7th

    Home address (required):

    Home ZIP code (required):

    Parent or guardian name (required):

    Parent or guardian telephone number (required - we will text reminders to this number):

    Parent or guardian email address (required - we will email reminders to this address):

    Additional emergency contact available during class hours (different from Parent/Guardian above):

    Emergency contact name (required):

    Emergency contact telephone number (required):

    Allergy information:

    Other medical or developmental information we should be aware of:

    Demographic Information (required):

    We collect this demographic information solely for reporting purposes. This information does not in any way affect your eligibility for the ECOS program.

    Gender (required):

    FemaleMaleGender NonconformingPrefer not to answer

    Race/ethnicity (required):

    American Indian or Alaska NativeAsianBlack or African AmericanHispanic, Latino, or Spanish OriginMiddle Eastern or North AfricanNative Hawaiian and Other Pacific IslanderWhiteOther/Multiple race, ethnicity, or origin identificationPrefer not to answer

    Attendance (required):

    Please check all the dates you anticipate your child will be able to attend ECOS Nature Club.

    Mar 30Apr 6Apr 13Apr 20Apr 27May 4May 11May 18

    How did you hear about us? Please be as specific as possible including location, social media site, name of individual or organization, etc. (required)

    We are committed to providing high-quality educational and workforce opportunities to motivated young people living in the urban neighborhoods served by the Kansas City Public Schools. Within this target population, we will not discriminate based on economic or social status, race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation or physical disability.

    We use the contact and personal information above only to communicate with families and ensure the safety of participants. We use non-identifying information for funder reports.

    While Nature Club is a free program, we do request a $5/student registration fee. You will be directed to the fee payment page after submitting this registration. If the cost of this fee is prohibitive for you, you can bypass the fee payment by closing that window, but you must click Submit below in order to complete your registration before doing so.

    Green Works in Kansas City
    607 E. 31st Street
    Kansas City, MO 64109

    info@greenworkskc.org

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