Local Leaders of the 21st Century

Bob Molinaro, Owner of Pleasanton Garbage Service

Bob Molinaro, Owner of Pleasanton Garbage Service

The Local Leaders of the 21st Century is a new program for high school students through the Go Green Initiative. Thanks to a grant from Pleasanton Garbage Service, it is being piloted at Amador Valley High School in Pleasanton, CA, and will be rolled out nationwide in the coming months. Students SmilingThe program is designed to help students understand how local public policy and industry work together to implement and maintain the following critical community systems: waste, water, energy and food. The program is designed to allow students to interface with local leaders to understand how these systems work in their own community, visit critical infrastructure associated with these systems, and to express what they have learned in photos, videos, essays and speeches. Students have the opportunity to earn both scholarships and community service hours for graduation.

Student Asking QuestionDuring the spring semester, we are studying Pleasanton’s waste system. We will help them gain access to subject matter experts from both the public and private sector, and we will take them to see our local recycling center and landfill.

There are fifty-seven (57) Amador students involved in the project this spring semester. VideoThey are divided into eight (8) working groups: website design, interviewing experts, writing articles, photography, video production, graphic design, PowerPoint creation, and speeches. Together, the groups will produce content that can be shared with the entire community of Pleasanton to help others understand how Pleasanton’s waste system works, and how every resident and business can participate in creating the most sustainable waste system possible.

Students Q&A with Pleasanton's MayorStudents have had the opportunity for Q&A sessions with Pleasanton’s Mayor, Jerry Thorne; the City Manager, Nelson Fiahlo; Bob Molinaro, Owner of Pleasanton Garbage Service; and Wendy Sommer, Executive Director of the Alameda County Waste Management Authority. Stay tuned for updates as the Amador Local Leaders launch their website and address the local Rotary Club and Chamber of Commerce!