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Meet The 2022-2023 Castro Valley High Sustainable Youth Interns!

Introducing this year's Sustainable Youth Interns! Learn why this group of 15 Earth Team interns joined the program and are passionate about the environment

Hi, I’m Kristine Santiago!! I’m a junior at Castro Valley High school. I joined Earth Team to gain the opportunity of hands-on experience. I always enjoyed learning about the Environment and the science behind it all and it’s always been a dream of mine to become an Environmental Scientist. Joining Earth Team allowed me to pursue that dream and have actual experience within that field. In my spare time however, I enjoy writing and drawing. I am a very creative based person who’s always looking for an outlet! My favorite animals are cats and I’ve always wanted to own one! I like ice cream, strawberries and anything pink! That’s about it though!

Hi, I’m Anjali Yadavalli! I am a junior at Castro Valley High School. I joined the Earth Team internship to get an insight on how the environment is viewed by students around me. I’ve always enjoyed being in nature and surrounding myself with the stuff our planet provides us with. Another reason I joined Earth Team was to learn about ways we could help the Earth, after all it is our only home, for right now at least. I think it’s important to be educated about this as young adults and I am very lucky I got this opportunity. Outside of Earth Team, I’d like to think I’m athletic, spontaneous, and a huge animal lover. One other thing is that I love hanging out with my friends, and even meeting new people. I enjoy reading books of any genre, writing, drawing, playing with my dog, running, and badminton. I’m also really interested in fashion and I’m an officer of our very own CVHS Fashion Club. There’s not much else to who I am but I like to think I’m pretty cool!

Hello I’m Sophia Chan! I’m a sophomore at Castro Valley High School. Environmental awareness has been one of my main interests ever since I’ve learned about it in middle school and on social media. When I found out about this internship, I was so excited to be doing something I care about professionally. At CVHS, I’m a part of the Smart environment club. I’m also on the Track and Field team as a short distance runner and a high jumper. In my free time I love to garden, paint, play games with my brother, and bake (although I’m not the best at it). I hope to make happy lasting memories this year!

Hello, I’m Angel Chen! I’m currently a sophomore at Castro Valley High School. After first learning about global warming in middle school with the severity of the issue and how fast it’s approaching, my interest of the environment emerged and I wanted to become more environmentally involved. Ever since then, I’ve always felt empowered and the desire to make a change to help reduce the significant environmental issues we experience today, even if my impact of the environment is minimal. This is my second year of being a part of EarthTeam and I hope to do more that helps nurture the earth and bring a change in our community. At school, I am a part of the Smart Environment club and I love being a part of it as we actively do things around school that help the environment such as gardening and litter clean-ups. In addition, music has always been a huge part of my life. I am in marching band as a leadership student, and am also involved in symphonic band and jazz band at school. Outside of school, I play piano and listen to music while doing pretty much any work.  I enjoy reading a variety of genres of books when I have the time, and I adore pothos and succulent plants. I’m excited to enact change and have fun this year through EarthTeam and the other programs I’m involved in!

Hello, I’m Kylie Henrick, I’m a Junior at Castro Valley High School. I joined the Earth Team because I wanted to increase my knowledge on environmental problems.  Another major reason for me is that I want to go into a career to do with the environment and I thought this would be a great opportunity. Some things about me is that I love to Hike and Backpack, so much so that I have spent over 100 nights camping in the last 2 years. I shoot longbow archery and I also love to play guitar and sew. That’s about it. See you later alligator!

Hi, I’m Alexa Piscil! I’m currently a junior at Castro Valley High School. I have been an active environmental activist ever since I learned about waste systems in elementary school and decided to make a change in middle school and high school. I love to especially learn about reducing waste, renewable energy, native flora and fauna, and impacts on ecosystems due to climate change. I love nature, art, animation, reading, and music, especially indie artists. In school, I am treasurer for Smart Environmental Club and Interact and am president of the Puente Club. I am a leadership member in the CVHS marching band and am an active leader in the District Student Leadership Alliance with Superintendent Ahmadi. This year is my second year in Earth Team and I am happy to be involved in resolving environmental issues in my community!

Hello I’m Jad Yehia! I’m currently a junior at CVHS. I joined Earth Team because I really enjoy working with plants, especially when it comes to reforestation efforts. This internship seemed like the easiest way to get into that kind of stuff, as well as learning a lot more about environmental science as a whole. Outside of school, I manage my family’s garden and grow plants to give as gifts to my friends 🙂 I also work at Chabot Space and Science Center, where I run the planetarium shows and present exhibits. I’m currently raising money to purchase my own turtle soon, as turtles are my favorite animal.  With EarthTeam, I really hope we catch a chance to see one on one of our field trips! It’s nice to meet you, and thanks for visiting my page! 

Hello, I’m Orian Gomez! I’m currently a senior at CVHS. This is my fourth year of being an Earth Team intern and I loved every year I have been one so I decided to do another year. I am part of the Smart Environment club at my school. I love to draw and make art.

Hi, I’m Rose or Venus, whatever you want to call me. I’m a 9th grader at CVHS and I joined Earth Team because I find biological sciences interesting and like to help nature. I am a pagan witch and I play the violin. I love theater and would like to either work in forensics or be a mortician. My favorite holiday is Halloween and I love horror movies. I am taking ASL and it’s very fun. I have two cats named Oliver and Mochi.

Hi, I’m Aaliyah Zaballos, and I am a junior at CVHS. I joined the Earth Team because I have always cared for animals so much, and the planet is home to all of our species so it must be protected. When I was younger I would spend summers with my Nana who volunteers at the Marine Mammal Center in Santa Cruz, I would go with her to watch her save seals and sea lions, and to beach clean-ups. She was really passionate about the environment, civil rights, and of course animals. She inspired me majorly to pursue a career in environmental science or something like it.. Another thing I have always done is Brazilian Jiu-jitsu with my dad being my coach. This later inspired me to join the Lady Trojans Wrestling team at CVHS.  

Hi, I’m Bailey Zweifel! I am a junior at CVHS. This is my first year at Earth Team. I joined because I really want to help the environment and be more involved with what is happening to the world. I think it’s very important and I hope that I can help make a change. I am a transgender male who is also the baby of the family. I have OAS (oral allergy syndrome) and one of the things I can’t eat is watermelon. I love to bake and hope to have a donut food truck someday or some kind of bakery. My favorite classes are ASL and creative writing. I also love animals and nature. Anyways, I’m excited to start this year with you all!

Hi I’m Ivan Reaves and I’m a ninth grader at Castro Valley High School. I joined Earth Team because it looked like a good chance to truthfully impact the earth. I like to do card tricks and play magic at gatherings. I want to go to Columbia University when I graduate

Hi, I’m Melissa Arroyo, I’m a Junior at CVHS. I joined Earth Team because I wanted to do my part for the community and help our environment. In my free time I play the piano, play soccer, and love watching Breaking Bad! I love going out with my friends and doing fun things. I think that my favorite holiday would either be Halloween or Christmas because they just seem like the best holidays. My favorite class at CVHS is probably the Honors Afro-centric literature because the teachers are the best and the class is super fun overall. In the future I plan to go to college in New York or might stay in California still deciding lol.  But as this being my first year on Earth Team I hope to make the best out of it!

Hi! My name is Genevieve Onorad and I’m a Sophomore at Castro Valley High School. This is my first year participating in Earth Team and I’m super excited to be part of such a great club and opportunity. I joined Earth Team to learn more about the environment and do something to create the change we need on our planet. I’ve been really passionate about climate issues and caring for the Earth since I was little. I really enjoy reading, listening to music, hanging out with friends, and playing instruments. At school I’m in the tech theater program and I manage sound, which includes putting mics on the actors and controlling the sound board and sound effects. When I’m older I hope to go to UC Santa Cruz for college and study something environment related or design.

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