By Miles Silva, Junior at Ridgewood High School and ACE Field Correspondent

My day-long experience at the ACE Leadership Training began on a rainy Sunday morning at the beautiful Brooklyn Botanic Gardens.

At first I was skeptical, I really didn’t have any idea what was going to happen, or how many people would be there, if anyone would be there. I remember asking myself, “Will it just be RHS Students for Environmental Action and ACE Educators?” And, “We have this composting project we would like to start, can they help us jump start it?” The questions that the four members from Ridgewood High School would soon be answered.

We entered the room to see thirteen smiling students and two welcoming ACE Educators that greeted us warmly. I felt very confident that this would be a great day.

We snacked on some healthy treats and introduced ourselves. All of the students came from various schools across Brooklyn and New York. All bright, mature, kind, and eager to learn. I was shocked to realize that my group was the only group that came from New Jersey.

This made me feel a little bit uneasy, I didn’t know think that it would be as enjoyable as I originally thought. The students didn’t care though, they were more than happy to see people from a different area.

The training officially began with a few ice-breakers, and continued with a game of Jeopardy to discuss regional effects of climate change, centered around urban areas like New York City.

Afterwards, we had the chance to share with the group what the projects we had started or would like to start. I remember one group said, “Our school is going to have a paperless day. We aren’t going to use any paper, not even for class. No notes, no hand-outs, no tests, no agendas. This is one way we’re showing how we’re going to be environmentally friendly.”

Another group contributed with, “We want to build a rooftop garden. We have the space, and we know what we want to grow. It’ll greatly affect the school in a positive way, and we can use the vegetables we grow to supply the school lunches and use the flowers to beautify the area. But we aren’t allowed to do this because the principal won’t let us, we need help.”

Help is the word that was common between all of the members that attended the training. I will always remember the ideas that were shared, and how we all helped each other, how we smiled and laughed, but ultimately received a better sense of how to start a project. The ACE Educators utilized their knowledge to guide us to our goal: success.

As the training approached the final stretch, and we completed a packet outlining the project we wanted to start, we were surprised. I will remember this forever: ACE was willing to give us a $200 grant to start our project. I never thought I could smile as big as I did. All of the hard work that the group collectively put in would pay off in the future. We just needed to keep the acronym “SMART” in mind.

I came to one final realization at the end of the day, and that is we learn from everyday experiences, but we can never complete a task alone. We need the help of other people who share our common interests.

When we put our heads together and assist each other, the goal will be achieved. To think, we started out not knowing anybody in the room, but left with smiles on our faces, happy to meet the people we did, but most importantly with a greater sense of how we can change the world.

I remember my team name for Jeopardy was “Earth’s Future,” but that should not have been exclusive to the few people in my group. It should have been to everyone who attended this ACE Leadership Training.

We left with a project in our folders that has the potential to start a trend in climate education and conserving energy. This is the reason why we all joined ACE and attended this leadership training; we are, and will be. Earth’s Future.

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My name is Miles Silva, I attend Ridgewood High School and I’m currently in my junior year. I’ve always been interested in conservation of resources and the environment, and intend on pursuing education in environmental and sustainable studies in college so I can teach people about the changes that the Earth is going through and do my part in creating a sustainable future!