Student Feels Included and Respected; Sees Opportunities Ahead

"You gain skills for life.  It’s a good experience.  Even if you don’t like the outdoors you are still going to like it [SCA].” ~Jean Baptista

Jean Baptista is 16 years old and is a junior at Cesar Chavez PCS on Capital Hill.  When Jean found out about SCA in his English class, he said to himself “I’ll never get accepted, but I turned in my application, got interviewed and got in.”  When asked why he wanted to join SCA, Jean said he “wanted to work for the environment and meet new people.”

Before SCA, Jean had gone on camping trips and hiking with his parents in West Virginia.  “Now after SCA, I know tools, plants, and how to plant a tree.  It’s opened many doors for me, people ask me questions and I have answers.  Also, it allows me to be in other programs because of my experience with SCA,” Jean says.  Before SCA, Jean was afraid to meet people and put himself out there.  Jean concluded that “SCA showed me working together gets things done faster.”  When asked how he and others could make a difference in the environment, Jean said “tell them it’s a different world to be outdoors.  You gain skills for life.  It’s a good experience.  Even if you don’t like the outdoors you are still going to like it [SCA].”

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