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Local teens awarded for green-up effort

chandel.anku91@gmail.com — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 00:29:11 +0000

Local teens awarded for green-up effort

BEDFORD – Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.

But after learning about endangered species and global warming, Bedford home- schooler Hillary Hughes can no longer see recyclables in a trash can, litter by a roadside, or lights left on in an empty room without a pang of concern.

A year and a half ago, she and two of her friends, Dylan Mahalingam of Derry and Nisha Naik of Bow, launched an effort to get more of those lights turned off and recyclables recycled.

That project, called Green Your Lives, won the three eighth-graders a trip to Washington, D.C., last month, where they spent a couple of hours with Sens. Judd Gregg and Jeanne Shaheen, and received the Presidentʼs Environmental Youth Award.

Hillaryʼs only regret was that President Obama himself was unavailable at the last minute.

“We got to meet with Lisa Jackson. She was very nice. But I think the president would have been really cool, so I was a little disappointed,” Hillary said.

EPA Administrator and Cabinet-ranking staff member Jackson presented Hillary, Dylan and Nisha with the PEYA award for EPA Region I, which includes all of New England.

They received a plaque, a free hotel stay and a private tour of the Smithsonian. Not to mention the ear of two U.S. senators.

After having breakfast with Sen. Shaheen and visiting her office together, the group spent about two hours with Sen. Gregg, who gave them a tour of the Capitol building.

Hillary said she didnʼt grill the senators on their environmental habits.

“Sen. Gregg asked a lot of questions about our team and our project, and he was very excited to hear about how we were going green with the school, it was fun to talk to him,” Hillary said. “(Sen. Shaheen) was also very supportive of our project. She cares about the schools in New Hampshire.”

The teens started “Green Your Lives” at Derryʼs Hood Middle School, where Dylan is a student.

They decided to increase recycling at the school, with the help of teacher Kristen Yeaton, who submitted the groupʼs materials for consideration for the award. Yeaton, a Bedford resident, accompanied the group to D.C.

KristinYeaton of Bedford, Dylan Mahalingam of Derry, Sen. Judd Gregg, Kathy Gregg, Hillary Hughes of Bedford and Nisha Naik, of Derry, during a trip to Washington, D.C., where Dylan, Hillary and Nisha were recognized for their contributions to greening up New Hampshire.

Green Your Lives created measurable differences in recycling at Hood Middle School, Hillary said.

First, the group surveyed Hood students to find out whether kids were aware that they could recycle at school.

Then they expanded the schoolʼs recycling system, promoted it among the students and conducted a follow-up survey.

Hillary said they sent out hundreds of surveys, with the help of Yeaton and the school staff, and found that students were recycling much more than they used to.

They expanded the effort with the Derry Give and Go program, encouraging other schools and Derry residents to go green.

They also took the message to the Web, at www.greenyourlives.org, where Hillary posted information, photos and even movies, including a video of the friends experimenting together with powering a miniature car with solar and hydro energy.

But much of the time, the three friends worked independently.

Nisha did a lot of the research, and Dylan worked on the science and acted as liaison between the group and Hood Middle School, according to Hughesʼ mother, Angela.

Hillary created the media, including the Web site, the surveys and brochures, and three mini-movies.

“Itʼs been a lot of work, but itʼs been a good experience,” said Hillary. Hillary is used to working hard.

Sheʼs been playing the harp for six years, and the time commitment involved in mastering the instrument was one reason her mother, a former college professor, decided to home-school her three years ago.

They made travel a key piece of their curriculum and found that they loved it, Angela Hughes said.

“Weʼve been to Europe twice this year to study,” Hughes said. “I just think kids learn so much better when they experience things hands-on. If you can see the Parthenon, or the Roman Coliseum, youʼre going to remember that.”

Hillary and her 11-year-old brother are home-schooled, while her two younger siblings go to Peter Woodbury Elementary School.

But trips to Europe aside, it hasnʼt been a vacation, she said.

Home-school starts at the same time every morning – no sleeping in – and includes an hour of harp practice and half an hour of piano practice, Hillary said.

So it was natural for her to take on so much responsibility for Green Your Lives – and it was for a good cause.

Last year, Hillary, Dylan and Nisha worked on a project about endangered species.

That introduction to environmental issues hooked Hillary, who gets a thrill from watching deer, wild turkeys and turtles roam her back yard and the neighboring conservation land.

“I love nature, and we have wild animals here,” Hillary said. “We should try to conserve that land, and different parts of forest and natural life, too. Every year these wild turkeys come by, and they have little chicks and families. The animals are very cool to see.”

Her enthusiasm has inspired the whole family, according to her mother.

“We were not very environmentally friendly before this, but now weʼre composting, weʼre using our green shopping bags,” Angela Hughes said. “We as a family have benefited, because I think we are more environmentally friendly.”

By wdepuy@cabinet.com”Wendy Depuy Staff Writer
Published: Friday, Jun. 5, 2009

The post Local teens awarded for green-up effort appeared first on Color My World.

Charitable work part of Hughes family life

chandel.anku91@gmail.com — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 00:40:24 +0000

Charitable work part of Hughes family life
BY IRENE LABOMBARDE

“Search Inward, Look Upward, Reach Outward” is the message inscribed on the brick the Hughes family donated to the newly rebuilt Ann DeNicola Memorial Playground. It is also the philosophy behind the Color My World charity Angela and Brian Hughes founded, along with their children, almost 10 years ago.

“Brian and I just wanted the kids to get involved in service, and this is a way for the whole family to give back,” said Angela Hughes.

Color My World’s first outreach program provides school kits for Third World countries.

“We waste so many things here, and there is such need elsewhere. Even young kids could identify with pencils, crayons, glue. They hear about people who erase homework to reuse the paper, and this takes it to a higher level. Our whole vision was to get kids to do something that matters,” she said.

Her 10-year-old son, Chase, said he loves helping with the school kits.

“We’ve been delivering things to help people who are suffering and can’t afford school supplies. It makes me feel very happy to help them have a better life,” he said.

As the kits have grown in popularity, Color My World has received help from school and Scout groups who collect materials. The kits are stored in a warehouse in Boston, ready to be flown as soon as they are needed. Assembled kits are kept on hand, as well as money to purchase additional supplies.

Approximately $18,000 in school supplies have been donated the past two years.

“We’re not looking at the dollar value, we just want to get the help out there. But having people make even a minimum donation really adds up,” said Hughes.
In addition to school kits, the organization also provides hygiene kits to disaster areas. Hughes said they are considering assisting victims of the recent floods in London, England.

On a more local note, Hughes said Color My World hosted benefit dinners and silent auctions in 2006, raising more than $12,000 for the John Hills family, whose house burned down, and about $13,000 for cancer patient Jacob Schaffner of Goffstown.

Hughes said her biggest regret is that they were on vacation in May 2006 when the Goffstown floods hit.

“We were helping Indonesian earthquake victims at the time, and got a lot of negative feedback. We were looking so globally, we missed what was happening locally. So we pulled out of Indonesia and helped our own neighbors,” said Hughes. That year’s school kits were donated to the Boys and Girls Club of Salem rather than Africa.

She said they hope to stay on the international scene by providing relief kits, but also want to do things that would help Bedford. They have begun a radon awareness campaign, and she said they would like to donate to the libraries at the new schools.

“There is so much need, even in Bedford. It’s hard to decide. We do whatever tugs on our heartstrings, whatever we can do. We’re small, we’re not the Red Cross, so we look at the resources and decide what we can do,” she said.

In July, Color My World donated the plants and labor to help landscape at the playground.

“I had fun putting in the plants,” said Noah Hughes, 7.

Hillary Hughes, 13, was one of 10 youths across the nation honored with a Prudential Spirit of Community Award in 2006. Recognition for her volunteer efforts has been highlighted in magazines, such as Disney Adventure All-Stars and American Girl Magazine. Although she said she doesn’t seek the limelight, she doesn’t mind raising awareness of what Color My World is trying to achieve.
Last November, Hillary attended the New Hampshire Board of Youth Volunteers conference on youth volunteerism at the Wayfarer Inn in Bedford.
“It was a lot of fun. There were about 200 kids there, legislators and senators. For a service project, we collected about 185 school kits to give the Boys and Girls Club,” Hillary said.

In the future, Hughes hopes to establish a youth board for Color My World.
“Our goal is to educate and empower youth to get involved. We have kept the organization tight with our family, and now we hope to have the resources to branch out and bring people in,” she said.

For more information on their projects, awards, media coverage, and how you can get involved, visit www.Colormyworldkids.org. Published Wednesday, August 15, 2007 2:34 PM by Bedford Editor

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