By YES! Coordinator Jon Morales:
If there was ever anyone that gave the saying “fly by the seat of your pants” a good name, it would be John Duevel. John’s company, Three Seasons and More in Willmar, MN thrives on the challenges of designing, engineering, and implementing sustainable technologies in ways that bypass roadblocks and focus on the mission at hand. John maintains the perspective that a step in the right direction is good for everyone, no matter who takes it.
The goal of John and Three Seasons and More is to appropriately allocate limited resources in a way that is most efficient and helpful. Looking toward the future, John sees the benefits and necessity of people who have the ability to see solutions that integrate sustainable technologies. A perfect example of this is the shop at Prairie Woods Environmental Learning Center. The technologies that make the shop cozy during the harsh Minnesota winters were present they just had to be connected in a way that made sense. Taking into account PWELC is a net-zero energy consumer, John joined the technologies of solar thermal panels and a wood boiler to create a system that did not only heat the shop during the winter, but also had the capacity to cook biodiesel.
John considers himself lucky to have worked with various YES! teams, including New London-Spicer and Litchfield. The opportunity to impact the community through educating the next generation is the essence of sustainable development. You know you are succeeding when parents and educators adopt sustainable practices promoted by students. This is why what YES! is accomplishing is so significant. When someone looks at the projects being accomplished they are only seeing half the story. Where it gets really interesting is when people can see students connecting with their communities in a way that fosters creativity and innovation on all sides.
The benefits of YES! are far-reaching. The innovative ways that YES! builds awareness, facilitates solutions, and promotes leadership to implement those solutions has a cumulative effect which demonstrates why programs like YES! are so important to communities.
