Green Iowa AmeriCorps has several high school students serving across the state of Iowa, and Caroline Mascardo has interviewed and put together profiles for all 7 Members. Today, we're getting to know Chante Hardaway, a Sustainable Schools Member serving with the Iowa City Community School District.
Chante Hardaway is a rising senior at Iowa City Liberty High School and is serving with the Green Iowa AmeriCorps Sustainable Schools program in her school district, the Iowa City Community School District (ICCSD), this summer. Chante heard about the program from her AP Environmental Science teacher as well as Meg McAloon and Lisa Stark, two full-time Green Iowa AmeriCorps members serving in the Iowa City Community School District.
Interested in environmental science and engineering, Chante readily applied for the Sustainable Schools summer position in the ICCSD.
“This position fully immerses me into bettering the environment. It is a great way for me to see what is currently being done, what needs to be fixed and how I can help better the environment,” Chante said.
As a high school student, Chante believes that she lends a valuable perspective to her work with Sustainable Schools.
“One of the biggest things that I have is a first-hand experience of what is currently happening in the schools,” Chante said. “I am also able to push sustainability to my peers; a lot of times, students respond in a more positive manner when it comes from someone their age.”
This summer, Chante is most excited to standardize the recycling program in the ICCSD, an initiative that McAloon and Stark began around a year ago.
“I am looking forward to working on pushing single-stream recycling in all the schools in our district,” Chante said. “Overall, I am just excited to help make the ICCSD more sustainable and environmentally friendly.”
Fin.