glo Girl : Elise Jones

COMMUNITY FOCUS |

glo GIRL

ELISE JONES

AGE: 20

By Julie Young | Photo by Mollie Shutt

Elise Jones believes that awareness and knowledge are the keys to creating change in the world. As a high school senior, she took an environmental science class that raised her consciousness, inspired her Girl Scout Gold Award project, and led to her field of study at Ball State University.

“That class really struck a chord with me,” she said. “It showed how everything is interconnected and how the decisions we make as human beings have a huge impact on the natural world.”

Her teacher led an afterschool club that focused on sustainability, and when it came to developing an idea for her Gold Award project, Jones wanted to create something that would not only have environmental benefits but societal ones, as well. She spent 80 hours across five-to-six months designing, building, and installing a multi-level bird house for the Purple Martin (a type of swallow) on the grounds of the Visiting Nurse & Hospice Home in Fort Wayne. In addition to giving her feathered friends a place to call home, the structure also serves as a conversation piece and source of comfort to the residents of the hospice home and their families.

Not long after completing the project, Jones entered Ball State with an undecided major. However, it did not take her long to get involved with local community organizations that led her to urban development and community planning. She said it was the perfect field for someone who is keenly interested in creating a balanced and sustainable world for future generations. This past summer, she began working with her department head to create a high school workshop program in partnerships with the Urban Land Institute.

“It is a game simulation that uses Legos to explain urban planning and development and how it works with the government,” she said. “We plan to start offering it this month, and we hope that it will not only teach kids what urban planning and development is all about, but to encourage them to look around their community, see what is needed and how they can make a difference, as well. I encourage everyone to learn something new every day and then share what you’ve learned with someone else. Everyone has the power to do something!” a