Deeply Rooted
Title: A Deeply Rooted Summer with LeadIN
Student Interns:
Jayla Harris
University of Pennsylvania, School of Veterinary Medicine
Ansah Khan
University of Pennsylvania, School of Dental Medicine
Academic Preceptor:
Abby Quinn Peterson, DMD, MPH
University of Pennsylvania, School of Dental Medicine
Elizabeth Powell, DDS, MPH
University of Pennsylvania, School of Dental Medicine
Brittany Watson, VMD, PhD, DACVPM, MS
University of Pennsylvania, School of Veterinary Medicine
Community Preceptor:
Dianne Uwayo, MPH
Deeply Rooted
James Wright, MBA
Deeply Rooted
Community Site:
Deeply Rooted is a community-academic collaborative that uplifts the health of West and Southwest Philadelphia neighborhoods by empowering local voices to co-create green spaces, thereby facilitating positive change in their communities and nurturing youth to take ownership of their future and environment.
Team’s Experience:
The Bridging the Gaps interns at Deeply Rooted primarily supported the Leadership in Nature (LeadIN) program by helping staff implement the curriculum and engaging students throughout the program. LeadIN immerses 18 high school students in nature while promoting leadership development. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, the interns worked directly with the student cohort, helping to facilitate field activities, such as community trips to John Heinz Wildlife Refuge, and supporting lectures and workshops led by guest speakers. In addition to their work with LeadIN, the interns attended community meetings and observed how Deeply Rooted collaborates with residents through a shared leadership model to design, create, and sustain neighborhood green spaces.
Reflections
Supporting Deeply Rooted was an opportunity truly reflective of the core values that led my pursuit of a career in veterinary medicine. Although I have always held a passion for community-based work, witnessing the DR team exemplify being face-level with communities and empowering them to accomplish their goals has been a catalyst for transforming my passion from seeds of action to real-world interactions. Through facilitating the LeadIN program, I had the privilege of honing my communication skills to ensure the youth were able to connect with program materials in a meaningful way. Additionally, facilitating community-based youth sessions created shared, novel experiences that allowed me to learn alongside the students. Ultimately, interning at DR broadened my perspective on One Health in action and showed how valuable it is to be a leader in bringing its application to youth.
Jayla Harris
Working with Deeply Rooted this summer has taught me the importance of environmental health and one’s surroundings in determining their well-being. Witnessing the interactive process between the team and community members in designing green spaces helped me understand the importance of a shared leadership model and how it empowers communities to be leaders of their own change. Additionally, working with adolescents through Deeply Rooted’s LeadIN program has taught me to be adaptable and has helped me understand and appreciate group development. I’m immensely grateful for the opportunity to have learned from the Deeply Rooted team, as well as the community of West and Southwest Philadelphia, and I intend to take the knowledge and skills I obtained into my future career, where I hope to practice with compassion and resiliency.
Ansah Khan
Partners
