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Youth Tree Team is more than just a summer job training program. It’s an opportunity for students to learn money management, meet local business leaders, and explore green careers. The 2024 Youth Tree Team (YTT) included 62 students from 31 schools across seven metro Atlanta counties.

About 40% of this year’s YTT were returning students from one or more years prior, and 6 out of the 62 students are high school graduates headed to college this fall.

A Summer of Growth

In 2024, our Youth Tree Team program experienced significant growth, not only in numbers but also in our team and partnerships. We were thrilled to welcome Eric Blumenschein into the newly created role of Workforce Development Manager. His skill and enthusiasm managing people played a pivotal role in expanding the program’s reach and providing new learning opportunities for students.

This year, YTT introduced two new features that expanded educational opportunities for  returning team members and allowed them to build on prior years’ experiences. 

• Advanced Skills Groups: Returning YTT members had the chance to learn specialized skills used by Trees Atlanta at various worksites. There were two Advanced Skill Groups: Pruning and Invasive Species Expertise. Participants were selected based on their performance during the program’s first week and in specific classes.
• Off-Site Exploration: A few 3rd and 4th-year YTT members participated in off-site work with the Atlanta History Center, focusing on the horticultural aspects of the Goizueta Gardens and the Swan House. This experience culminated in a research project presented to the Atlanta History Center.

For the last several years, a highly valued component of the program has been the financial literacy lessons conducted by our community partner, Community Sustainability Enterprise (CSE), led by Deirdra Cox and her associates. During weekly coaching sessions, the Youth Tree Team explored future career paths, developed networking skills, and began a lifelong journey of learning how to save and grow their money with various investment tools. Our program partner, BankSouth, provided bank accounts to each YTT member to facilitate financial literacy training.

This year, CSE introduced new lessons on entrepreneurship. With the help of Esco Hill and the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, the Youth Tree Team explored the skills and knowledge needed to become successful entrepreneurs. Esco Hill, the founder of Esco Eats, shared his journey to create a successful brand. The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta provided an immersive experience into the world of currency, economic policy, lending, and credit.

Achievements

During the seven-week program in June and July 2024, the Youth Tree Team worked together to achieve incredible outcomes, including: 

• Tree care and maintenance for over 1,231 trees
• Filled, carried, and spread 1,050 buckets of mulch
• Moved 3,125 buckets of water, equaling 13,245 gallons
• Removed 10 acres of invasive plants
• Each student planned to save at least $450 during the program

Student P.O.V. from Tyra

“I chose to participate in the Youth Tree Team internship because I enjoyed gardening. When I was younger, my garden contained exotic flowers and grasses around the perimeter of my house but they would always die fast during the summer because of weeds. When I was younger, I thought of weeds as if they didn’t belong and were evil. I pulled the weeds off the flowers, the grass, and cracks in the concrete but they would always come back. In car rides, I noticed how weeds were growing everywhere in communities around trees and bushes. I believed someone like myself could prevent all weeds from growing out of control but I didn’t know how. In November of 2022, I found the Youth Tree Team internship at my school and was eager to apply. I believed that by applying for this internship, I would help my community. During my two year span of being a YTT Allum, I had the pleasure of meeting co-workers with the same ideas as me in the future and developed friendships of different backgrounds as myself. 

Working on the Atlanta Beltline in the harsh sun and in the forest was extremely hard work but pushing yourself to endure the exhaustion builds character as a teen or young-adult and teaches humbleness. Trees Atlanta opened my point of view for job opportunities within Atlanta like participating in Career Day seeking knowledge about big and small organizations that helped our community. Working alongside the staff and our senior leads allowed us to experience how working salary based, or hourly based, jobs are perceived. To anyone interested in learning more about the environment, this would be an amazing opportunity for high-schoolers of all ages.”

Program Partners

We are proud to have expanded our list of project partners this year, further strengthening our network and capabilities. The following organizations hosted YTT for enrichment days: Patchwork City Farms, Sweetwater Creek, Arabia Mountain, AWARE Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank, Smurfit Westrock, and CHaRM. View the full list of 2024 Youth Tree Team partners and collaborators here. 

Youth Tree Team 2024 was made possible with the financial and program support of many community and corporate partners, including the City of Atlanta, Bank of America, Bosch, Delta, Georgia Forestry Foundation, Insight Global, PWC, Delta Community Credit Union, Veritiv, and the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, under the guidance of the Department of Community Development CSP Program.

Looking Ahead to Summer 2025

The 2024 Youth Tree Team program was a transformative experience, equipping participants with practical skills, financial literacy, and a deeper understanding of environmental stewardship. We are proud of the impact these young leaders have made and look forward to the continued growth of this program.

Join us in Summer 2025! Applications for Summer 2025 open in November 2024. Visit our website for YTT program information and application deadlines. 

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