Torin Perret, Nederland. A few years ago, as the TeamWorks season wrapped up, I was approached and asked to join the TEENS Inc. Board of Directors. It was such an honor to even be considered to join the board of an organization that played such a formative role in my life while growing up here in Nederland. I suppose the reason I was so interested in joining the board was a reflection of how much TEENS has impacted the trajectory of my life.

During middle school and early high school, my first job was working for TEENS, Inc Mountain Youth Corps for two summers. This job taught us all at an early age exactly how important working as a team can be. It also gave me the ability to earn my own money as a teen, something that anyone who lives up here knows is hard to find. During the summer before my junior year, I was fortunate enough to experience a youth leadership trip, which was an opportunity that was available to me on a scholarship. On this nine day trip I got to experience outdoor rock climbing, as well as take part in my first backpacking trip. I will forever acknowledge this trip as being the stepping stone into my natural resource degree from CSU. 

Years down the road, I was lucky enough to work for TEENS again at the end of my high school experience. Upon graduating from NMSHS I found myself again employed through the TeamWorks program. I worked with the program for two summers. Making new friends, furthering my work ethic, all while earning a total of $4,000 in scholarship money to further my education! 

My connection to TEENS does not end there though. My youngest sister took advantage of Chinook West and used it to graduate from high school on time! 

Years later, I was called about my interest in coming back to work as a supervisor for the TeamWorks program. I was so happy to hear that the program had expanded into multiple crews doing primarily trail work with a bit of weed pulling, which was the opposite a few years earlier when I worked TW. The job also fulfilled my internship requirement at CSU. I loved that summer so much! Getting to see both the urban and rural kids on our crew becoming more and more comfortable with the outdoors was a treat to witness. Also, watching friendships blossom between students of such differing backgrounds, eating bugs with students, and my renewed connection with TEENS Inc. was plenty enough reason to come back again the following summer.  

To sum things up, I serve on the TEENS Inc. board because I want the youth in our community to have even more opportunities than I had growing up in Ned. The Teen Center offers a safe place for youth to gain an education, improve leadership skills, go on adventures, as well as employing youth and giving them a place to make their voices matter. I’m incredibly grateful that TEENS Inc, exists, and am honored to be a part of it as we all watch it continue to grow.

(Originally published in the November 26, 2020, edition of The Mountain-Ear.)