We are pleased and excited to announce that as a result of a grant proposal prepared by RHIC's Erin Bowman two AmeriCorp VISTA volunteers, Melissa Doot and Renee Goodenow, are now working at John Eager Howard School to support energy saving initiatives as part of JEH being selected as an Energy Hub school.

We have these two energetic women with us at least through May of this year. Please welcome them in the community.

Melissa and Renee introduce themselves below in their own words

My name is Melissa Doot. I’m 23 and have just moved to Baltimore as an AmeriCorps VISTA to work with the Baltimore Energy Challenge. My partner and I will be working with Baltimore City Public Schools to help students become more aware of their energy use at school. I studied Marine Biology in college, and am very interested in conservation education especially for youth. During my free time I love to run, collect vinyl records, and snowboard!

My Name is Renee Goodenow, I work with Missy at the Baltimore Energy Challenge. I am also an AmeriCorps volunteer. I spent last year in Tucson, Arizona working at an elementary school helping them build outdoor gardens and an outdoor Environmental Learning Lab. Before that I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Ghana, West Africa. In Ghana they reuse a lot of materials. I got to see a whole farm where baby orange trees were being grown in reused drinking containers. I am excited to work with schools in Baltimore to help them learn more about Energy Conservation. This is a beautiful, amazing city and I am proud to be a part of its community!