Melissa Eakright

Green Team Member

Melissa is a member of the class of 2022 at Sumner Academy of Arts and Science in the Sumner-Douglass neighborhood. She loves the environment and working outdoors. She has been a member of the Green Team since spring of 2021 and has since been involved in numerous collaborations with communities in Northeast Kansas City, Kansas, implementing new green infrastructure to enhance neighborhoods for residents. She has planted 49 trees and over 150 native plants in these neighborhoods, maintaining them by watering and weeding so that she is following through with neighborhood betterment, not just starting the process. Other than the plantings she has done to better local communities, Melissa has poured concrete and improved trails to enhance the look of many of the abandoned lots in northeast neighborhoods.

Besides working on construction and planting, Melissa has other interests regarding career skills that can be used to further benefit her community as well as others. After graduation, she plans on attending Kansas City Kansas Community College to complete her associate degree in biology. After she gets her associate, Melissa plans on traveling outside of the state to get her bachelor’s, master’s, and eventually a doctorate in marine biology. She is excited to continue bettering her own community and hopes to one day better communities across the globe, utilizing the skills developed during her community engagement with Green Team as well as the skills she will be learning in her post-secondary education.