Palmer Trinity School (PTS) students who are part of the First Academy of Agents of Change want to be social entrepreneurs and environmental innovators with the goal of making South Florida a better community.
The Academy of Agents of Change (AAC-PTS), launched August 2014, seeks to empower idealistic young people with the necessary skills and experiences to design, launch, and run their own ventures for social change and environmental innovation.
The program includes six modules that combine Outward Bound’s experiential learning methodology and adventure with the social entrepreneurship framework of Ashoka’s Youth Venture Program. Each module focuses on a different theme and takes place in a different location from Florida to North Carolina in the United States, and from the Andes Mountains to the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador.
The students presented their community initiatives to a diverse group of community members which included Dr. Lynne Fieber, Graduate Program director, RSMAS/MBE University of Miami; Hugo Mantilla, executive director for Morgan Stanley & Co., and Dr. Karla Utting, executive director of Dream in Green. It was moderated by Eduardo Balarezo, CEO and founder of Lonesome George & Co.
“These students have exhibited a degree of dedication, vision, and passion that is beyond their years. They are a true inspiration for the community as they demonstrate a deep understanding and awareness that if we all work together, we can create a better future,” Leopoldo Llinás said.
“Participating in this panel allowed me to see how Palmer Trinity delivers students who are community minded social entrepreneurs, inspiring us all to lead lives of virtue, humanity and spirit,” said Hugo Mantilla, one of the panelists, and a board member at Palmer Trinity School.
The initiatives are:
• Cleat Revolution is a non-profit organization that focuses on helping underprivileged kids and adults who cannot afford shoes to enjoy soccer, the “beautiful game.”
• Comics for Change have the objective of inspiring, motivating, and empowering children living in impoverished conditions in the Miami area. In an eye-catching, fun, and engaging way, children will be presented with a story and then asked to reflect on themselves, drawing their own superheroes.
• Environmental Carpool Ride (EC Ride) is a mobile application that facilitates how parent drivers take their children to and from school by using the app’s carpooling system.
• Falcon Bike Share is a student run bicycle sharing system in which students can pay $5 and check out a bicycle for the rest of the year. Falcon Bike Share’s main goal is to serve as a transportation pilot as Palmer Trinity evolves from 26 acres to 55 acres.
• Palm Lacrosse is a Palmer Trinity sports team initiative that works with Breakthrough Miami to introduce students to lacrosse, a sport not typically funded by the Miami-Dade County Public Schools System.
• Parinama was founded on the basis of a paradigm shift. Its goal is to inspire people to change the way they see three specific environmental problems: trash on beaches, plastic bag pollution, and sea level rise.
For information about the AAC-PTS go to www.palmertrinity.org/AAC.
