Kai was part of the YES! team at Mankato West his sophomore, junior and senior years (2014-2017). During his time as a member of the Mankato West YES! team, Kai worked on many projects including water bottle fillers that they added to their school’s water fountains, performing an audit of their school’s electrical consumption and waste management, replacing lightbulbs in their high school building and doing some waste management education in their local elementary schools.
Kai enjoyed his time as a part of the Mankato West YES! team, noting, “I gained a lot of tips and tricks in myriad practices required in activism; how to write persuasive emails, manage planning long-term projects, and work with my classmates and superiors to get things done.” Since graduating from Mankato West High School, Kai moved to England to study theology and refugees and forced migration at Durham University. Kai explains, “the skills I learned in YES! have transferred well to other forms of activism. I write emails every day and still think about the things I learned in YES! and it gave me practice in speaking in front of the administration of my school that has taught me things I use today, working as a legal assistant in asylum cases.”
His two favorite memories of participating in YES! include “sifting though all the trash to see how well people sort out compost (might not sound like fun but it is!) and going to the environmental learning center”.
We are excited to see what Kai continues to accomplish after participating in YES! We love hearing from our alumni. If you’d like to be featured as a YES! alumnus, please contact us and let us know.
Major funding for the YES! program was provided by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR).
