This is a guest post written by William Burnett, a rising freshman at Boston Latin School.

On June 9^th 2013, I was fortunate enough to venture out into the community with an organization I’m part of called Boston Latin School YouthCAN  (Youth Climate Action Network). We went out to table at the World Oceans Day event at the New England Aquarium. The whole day was an amazing experience, meeting new people, spreading the word about things we really care about, and inspiring the community to do something. We were able to give back to the community in an educational, inspirational, and gratifying way.

The event was held to raise awareness about marine life and its ‘struggles’ in our present day environment. It was also to provide a great place to have some fun while learning a great deal. During the event I realized I wasn’t just teaching the community, they were teaching me. They were teaching me that spreading the word and giving people valuable information was something really important to me. For a kid in 4^th or 5^th grade to look up to us and think about why exactly we were there and maybe why they could be there in the future, doing what we were doing.

One of the things that really struck me was how many people young and old came to our table and listened and interacted with us. As one of the few youth organizations there, I can proudly say that people seemed to care about what we were saying, even though we were just giving them a few fun facts about the ocean to begin with. What stemmed from that was even better: We had people asking us who we were, what we did in the community, etc. and it was a fantastic way to get people to listen to us as a youth group and as people who genuinely care.

Part 2 coming tomorrow: William shares a video reflection of his experience.