Document 6466594

The Mag Interview | Teens spread the ‘green’ message - KansasCity.com
Page 1 of 2
78°
High
49°
Low
58°
Intermittent clouds
Forecast
Weather
HOME
NEWS
ABOUT US
SPORTS
JOBS
CARS
BUSINESS
LIFESTYLE
HOMES
RENTALS
Posted on Wed, Sep. 12, 2012 11:00 AM
Share
Email
alert
ENTERTAINMENT
CLASSIFIEDS
OPINION
STAR SITES
OBITS
PLACE AN AD
LOCAL SHOPPING
Read more The Kansas City Star Magazine
Print
KansasCity.com
Web Search powered by YAHOO! SEARCH
THE MAG INTERVIEW
The Mag Interview | Teens spread the ‘green’ message
BY CINDY HOEDEL
The Kansas City Star
Kate Corwin of Kansas City is president of Green Works, a
nonprofit organization that provides environmental
education and internships for urban youths. Green Works is
having a fundraiser Oct. 11 at the KCP&L Energy Center. It
will be a zero-waste event and have local food, a local
cocktail by Justus Drugstore and Eco Elvis (information and
tickets at GreenWorksKC.org). This conversation took
place at the Anita B. Gorman Conservation Discovery
Center.
DEALSAVER'S™ DEAL OF THE DAY
$12 for $25 Single Pumpkin
Patch and T-Bones Corn Maze
Season Pass. KC Pumpkin Patch
and Corn Maze
Green Works just got a $50,000 grant from the
Audubon Foundation for habitat restoration work along
Brush Creek. What are you doing with that money?
Near the Benton Bridge there is a natural oxbow formation
in the creek. We are planting native plants and trees and
putting up birdhouses along there.
What kind of education do you provide to the high
school students you work with?
We have a one-year after-school program where we teach
kids all about the environment in Kansas City. We talk
about water issues and the big sewer project that’s coming
up and how important that is. We talk about solid waste
and landfills and recycling. We also raise money to place
students who complete our program in summer internships.
$12
Value:
Discount:
You Save:
Where are some places you have placed kids in
internships?
We have a couple working here at the Discovery Center.
We have some working at the Environmental Protection
Agency, at Habitat ReStore, at StoneLion Puppet Theatre
and other companies. That gives them meaningful job
experience.
RICH SUGG
Kate Corwin of Kansas City is president of
Green Works, a nonprofit organization that
provides environmental education and
internships for urban youths.
More News
Can you share an example of how your program has
changed a student’s life?
One of our first students came from an extremely difficult
home life situation. She was 17 at the time. She was in our
program two years and had internships here at the
Discovery Center and at the EPA. Those internships
helped her get into a good college and now she’s in her
second year studying toward a pharmacy degree.
So the kids don’t always end up in “green” jobs?
$25
52%
$13
Enter your e-mail to receive daily updates
Register
Friday: Five things to do
Pinot noir is king in Oregon vineyards
Jake and the Never Land Pirates Race Event
KC’s canine cops are tough to beat
Zona Rosa Art Festival
Jesse James Festival
Stories behind City Market eateries begin with
families
The Mag Interview | Teens spread the ‘green’
message
My Homework Folder Craft
Sprint Family Fun Days – Tails & Beaks
First of All … | Rooster need a bath? I’m just the
person for the job
Love Story | He helped her love again after loss
No. We certainly hope that they do, maybe later in their
career, but the larger point is, no matter what our students
decide to be — whether it’s a pharmacist, whether it’s a dry
cleaner, whether they own a restaurant — all those businesses need to be greened and run in a sustainable way.
CHILD CARE TEACHERS
La Petitie Academy
Academic Reading Instructor
Why did you decide to focus on high school kids?
You get so much bang for your buck. They talk, they text. If you take pictures of them they send them all over the
place with messages like, “We’re planting trees!” “We’re planting a rain garden!” So they are passing the message
along to their friends and families. And we are educating the next generation of taxpayers and voters. We need
people to understand how serious our water infrastructure issue is, for example.
Excelsior Springs Job Corp
LEGAL ASSISTANT
Bookkeeper
Pet Air, Inc.
Executive Assistant
Central Power Systems & Services, Inc.
How did you come to start this nonprofit? You used to be an IT engineer.
Yes. In 1996 I was working at Sprint and my best friend from college died. I realized that I liked my career but it
wasn’t what I wanted to be doing. So I left Sprint and in 1997 started a furniture manufacturing company.
What kind of furniture?
Apartment Maintenance Helper
View More
THE MOST
Read
Garden furniture out of cedar. We did storage benches and little storage sheds. We had several locations where
we manufactured. The biggest one was in the West Bottoms behind the Beast haunted house. We sold our
products to Jackson & Perkins and Plow & Hearth and Target. It was really successful until 2005, when a lot of the
big box retailers decided they were going to get into garden furniture and the manufacturing was all moving
overseas. I knew it was over when I walked into Target one day and saw an exact replica of my storage bench
selling for less than I could purchase the materials for.
Did you think about moving your production overseas?
No. I started the company because I wanted to create jobs in Kansas City. That was good experience for starting a
nonprofit, especially in a recession, which is not the easiest thing to do. That’s why we are really celebrating our
five-year anniversary, because a lot of funders won’t fund an organization until it is at least five years old.
Why do you think you made it five years in a recession?
I’m really good at figuring out how to not spend money. I have an undergraduate degree in finance and a master’s
in economics.
Commented
Commentary: Maybe Mitt Romney should make
voters worry
Love’s secrets, finally revealed
Royals rally for 4-3 victory over White Sox on
Hosmer’s walk-off single
Unattended toddler locked inside filthy home is
rescued
MoDOT worker killed while working I-70 crash
Salvador Perez sets Royals record for pickoffs
AT&T worker dies after being assaulted on the
job in Gladstone
Missouri teen charged in school shooting plot
Mizzou’s Kony Ealy doesn’t have to look far for
What are some examples of how you don’t spend money?
We buy all our office furniture at Surplus Exchange. We borrow equipment that we need if it isn’t something we are
going to use every day. We have an email list of about 50 people who help us find things we need. Usually
somebody responds that they can get us whatever it is. If I don’t have to pay for office supplies, that’s that much
more money I can use toward paying for an internship for a kid.
People don’t want to write a check and think it’s going to buy doughnuts or permanent markers.
Exactly.
Why do you have to pay for internships?
We pay the students an internship stipend of $8 an hour, and we raise the money for that. The organizations that
offer the internships don’t have to pay anything. They look at the kids as volunteers and it works best that way.
Why?
Oftentimes this is a kid’s very first job experience. The student might not even have a role model at home who
knows what it’s like to have a regular job. It takes time to mentor that student. We say: “We’ll invest the money for
the stipend if you will invest the time to train the kid.” And raising money to pay for an internship for a specific kid is
easier than raising money for educational programs.
How many kids have you placed in internships?
Thirty-four. And we only had one situation where it didn’t work out, and we aren’t even sure if that one case was
the student’s doing.
That’s a good ratio. A lot of kids mess up their first job, no matter what their circumstances.
Absolutely. And our kids do have added difficulties, particularly with transportation. As the city cuts back on bus
routes, it affects our kids being able to get to the job.
We have two kids this year working at the current EPA headquarters in Kansas City, Kan. I’m not sure we can get
them to the new headquarters when it moves to Lenexa. It’s ironic, because that is our very best placement. That is
the one that looks best on a student’s resume.
To reach Cindy Hoedel, call 816-234-4304 or send email to [email protected]. Follow her at Twitter.com/cindyhoedel or
on Facebook.
Posted on Wed, Sep. 12, 2012 11:00 AM
Share
Email
Print
http://www.kansascity.com/2012/09/12/3809292/teens-spread-the-green-message.html
9/21/2012
The Mag Interview | Teens spread the ‘green’ message - KansasCity.com
Page 2 of 2
ADVERTISEMENT
Have a $500k portfolio? Ken
Fisher, a 27-year Forbes
columnist, has a retirement
guide for you!
Over 1 million people have
found relief with this secret,
now available in Kansas...
[SEPT 2012]: Drivers in
Kansas may be eligible to get
insurance for as low as
$9/week!
Lebo - New rule allows many
Kansas residents to get car
insurance at half-price.
Like
Add New Comment
Login
Type your comment here.
Real-time updating is enabled. (Pause)
Showing 1 comment
Sort by newest first
LogomachyFreak
#http://goo.gl/8JXNC
5 days ago
Report Abuse
Like
Reply
Subscribe by email S RSS
M
Woman is 51 But Looks 25
Mom publishes simple wrinkle secret that has
angered doctors...
Consumers-Lifestyles.org
Man Cheats Credit Score
1 simple trick & my credit score jumped 217 pts.
Banks hate this!
www.thecreditsolutionprogram.com
Stock Pick of the Day
Expert Analysis of Undervalued, Momentum Plays Free Report!
www.MicroCapInvestorPicks.com
Ads by Yahoo!
Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | About our ads | Copyright
HOME
• News
Columnists
VIDEO
Columnists
More Pro
More Amateur
Mavericks
UMKC
T-Bones
Big 12
Nation & World
Politics
Lotteries • Sports
JoCo
Info Central
News Projects • Business
Columnists
Blogs
Chiefs • Lifestyle
Royals
Press Release Central
Sam Mellinger
Red Zone
Sporting KC
Elections
Blair Kerkhoff
Fantasy Blitz
KU
Weird News
Upon Further Review
K-State
Campus Corner
MU
Ball Star
High Schools
Varsity Zone
Stats
Columnists
Blogs
Announcements
Consumer News
Technology
Workplace
Star 50
Diane Stafford
Sprint Connection
Stocks
Columnists
Blogs
Steve Rosen
Dollars & Sense
Motorsports
Colleges
Joyce Smith
Cindy Hoedel
Mom2Mom
Golf
Olympics
Kevin Collison
Jill Wendholt Silva
KC Pets
Tennis
Mark Davis
Jenee Osterheldt
KC Gardens
NFL
Keith Chrostowski
Blogs
Obituaries
Blogs
C.W. Gusewelle
Crime Scene KC
Mike Hendricks
Prime Buzz
Weather
Steve Kraske
Traffic
Mary Sanchez
KC Pets
Community Faces
Forums
About The Star
Order reprints
Outdoors
Breaking News
Neighborhoods
More
Faith Matters
Food
House & Home
Faith
Star Magazine
Travel
Health
Celebrations
Dear Abby • Entertainment
Columnists
Blogs
Ink
Horoscopes
Comics
Games
Movies
Music
• Opinion
Performing Arts
Calendar
Star TV
More
Robert Trussell
Back to Rockville
• Promo
Books
Alice Thorson
TV Barn
MLB
NBA
NHL
Restaurants
Joe Klopus
Visual Arts
Aaron Barnhart
Timothy Finn
Columnists
Blogs
Yael T. Abouhalkah
Midwest Voices
Editorials
Place an Ad
Letters to the Editor
Jobs
Miriam Pepper
Unfettered Letters
Create an Ad
Lewis W. Diuguid
Ad Astrum
Post Resume
E. Thomas McClanahan
Job Search
Barbara Shelly
Jobstart
Lee Judge
Top Jobs
Career Video
Cars
Real Estate
Rentals
Classifieds
Shopping
Tom Strongman
Sell A Home
Create an Ad
Garage Sales
Newspaper Ads
Sell A Car
HomeFinder
apartments.com
Pets
Special Sections
Used Car Specials
Find an Ad
New Car Specials
Create an Ad
Auto Newspaper Ads
Cars.com
http://www.kansascity.com/2012/09/12/3809292/teens-spread-the-green-message.html
9/21/2012