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NEIGHBORS
SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | MARCH 8, 2020
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Boys & Girls Club names Youth of the Year BY KRISTINE CANNON Progress Staff Writer
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oys & Girls Clubs of Greater Scottsdale named Pinnacle High School senior Carly Mertz as its 2020 Youth of the Year. Carly, 17, was recognized at BGCS’s annual Celebrate Youth Gala on Feb. 28. “Our gala guests are always in awe of our teen leaders, and this year our eight �inalists did not disappoint,” said Robyn Julien, BGCS President and CEO. “On full display at the Celebrate Youth Gala was the true impact of the Clubs – con�ident, compassionate, and resilient young leaders on their individual paths to great futures.” Carly has been a member of the BGCS Thunderbirds Branch in northern Scottsdale for 12 years. “The club has given me amazing opportunities to form my own identity,” Carly said in a video seen before she gave her speech to the more than 600
The 2020 Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Scottsdale Youth of the Year, Carly Mertz, from the Thunderbirds branch poses with her award, the highest honor a Club member can receive. (Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Scottsdale)
guests at the gala, presented by Tiffany & Bosco and Meritage Homes. “I believe I have become a leader because of the encouragement and support of Club staff.” Carly told her story of �inding con�idence, positive body image and acceptance at the club. “I experienced anxiety on a daily basis, and as a third-grader, I constantly felt like I wasn’t good enough,” Carly said. “Giving something as seemingly small as that ‘maroon and gold medal’ to the awkward girl with mismatched out�its and a strong personality may seem insigni�icant but, in that moment, I had never felt more accepted.” “It was in that moment I realized the Boys & Girls Club wasn’t looking for me to be faultless. They wanted me to be myself. They had given me this medal because they recognized me for who I actually was, including my faults, and they celebrated that.” Carly will receive a $5,000 scholar-
ship for college, which will help her achieve her goal of becoming an event planner for a nonpro�it. Also interested in community service and corporate responsibility, Carly was accepted to Arizona State University’s Barrett, the Honors College and will major in marketing and hospitality. Carly will compete at the state level on March 30, with the potential to move onto regional and national competitions. “I will use my platform to remind every kid they should be themselves. Remind them mental health is important. Remind them it’s okay to ask for help. Remind them they are good enough,” Carly said. Carly has held leadership roles in Torch Club, Keystone, and as a Leader in Training. This year, she was Keystone president. Carly is also currently a valued part-
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He drives a rolling class on sustainability BY KRISTINE CANNON Progress Staff Writer
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hen Air Force veteran Donald Jacques parked the 84-passenger school bus in front of his southern Scottsdale home in March 2017, his neighbors weren’t too pleased. “I had three or four neighbors come down, and they raised a big stink. They did not like the bus,” Jacques said. “Of course, back then, I didn’t have the panels on yet. The lettering wasn’t on it. It looked like a big, black prison bus, and they didn’t want it here.” What Jacques’ neighbors didn’t know was exactly what the school bus was to be-
Donald Jacques is the owner of Don the HandyDuck and CEO of nonprofit organization EarthSeed, Incorporated. EarthSeed celebrates its third year presenting the EarthSeed bus. (Chris Mortenson/Progress Staff Photographer)
come: the EarthSeed Mobile Analog Sustainability Habitat (MASH), a completely off-grid sustainable habit. “SpaceX gave me the idea on their website,” Jacques said. “If you go to the Falcon 9 page, and you go to the bottom right corner where they showed the fairing, they put a picture of a school bus inside the fairing to show how big the fairing is. This was inspiration for me.” Over two years, Jacques equipped the bus with a 200-gallon �ish pond, 32-square-feet of media garden and 96-square-feet of vertical wall garden that a couple of weeks ago has about 20
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