Rachel Klegon

Michigan Nightlight: What does being a leader mean to you?
Green Living Science Executive Director Rachel Klegon: Being a leader means putting oneself out there to try something that others have not. Often times a leader knows when a program is working and when it is not. It is important to be honest and put the benefit of the community above the benefit of the organization. More than anything, leaders need to believe in what they are doing.
 
What is your dream for kids?
I want kids to understand, much earlier than myself, how to connect the lessons being taught at home and in school and apply them to vast opportunities available in careers, hobbies, and everyday life. If kids understand how science affects their everyday life and can take personal responsibility for the health of our ecosystem, they will be able to change the world. 

If kids understand how science affects their everyday life and can take personal responsibility for the health of our ecosystem, they will be able to change the world.

 
What is one concrete thing that could be done to improve the environment for social sector work in Michigan?
 
More focus on the service that is being provided. It is easy to get distracted with funding, partnerships, outreach, marketing, evaluation, and reporting. All of that is necessary, but should be secondary to the quality of the service being provided. The two top priorities at Green Living Science include curriculum and educators. In some cases this might mean partnering to incorporate someone else’s curriculum or sharing our lessons with other educators.
 
How do you know you’re making progress?
Green Living Science uses many different techniques to gauge progress. Formal evaluation tools include a daily log in our afterschool program where students respond to a question presented from the day before to reflect on what they learned and how their behaviors have changed at school and at home. For the in-class lessons, students fill in a comic strip to describe what they have learned from that day. There are many informal ways that Green Living Science has seen progress. For instance, one parent explained that, based on the lessons with Green Living Science, their child has become the ambassador for their house for Reduce, Reuse Recycle. Also, every Saturday I stand at the recycling center while taking zip codes. Through this I have seen how the number of people recycling has grown in the areas where Green Living Science has provided lessons.
 
What are you most proud of?
The work I am able to do with Green Living Science is focused on long-term change. We are working on creating a new culture of recycling in Detroit. When I go into a classroom of any grade level, the first thing I ask students is why they think I talk to kids about recycling and the environment rather than adults. Without hesitation, the students proclaim that they are the ones who will influence others, they are the ones who will clean up their community, and they are the ones who can save the

When I go into a classroom of any grade level, the first thing I ask students is why they think I talk to kids about recycling and the environment rather than adults.

earth. I am proud to provide the information and infrastructure for students and their community take ownership of doing what they know is right. 
 
Reflecting on your career, what has been your greatest professional learning experience?
The one experience that has prepared me most for what I do now – probably for pretty much anything I will do in the future – occurred while I was a student at Michigan State University. I was put in charge of coordinating a program for college students from India who were spending the summer at MSU. I was hired only a week before my supervisor left for an unrelated trip to India and two months before the students were supposed to arrive. I had to do everything, from making sure their VISAs were in order, to arranging housing, to planning daily programming. I had no clue how to do any of this and no one to teach me. I had to figure out how to do it on my own and quick. The success of this experience gave me confidence to jump into action even when I don’t know exactly what I’m jumping into.