In early 2024, I interviewed Lin Jensen about what motivated her to co-found the LPS Green Teams. Every fall since it started in 2012, the Green Team in every school had been calling for parent and student volunteers to help with lunch trash sorting, recycling, and composting, as well as rescuing unopened food. Lin spoke thoughtfully about the challenge of sustaining the effort across multiple schools and the importance of building systems that could last.
During that interview, one thing she said stayed with me: “We hope the world will be as beautiful as the one we inherited from the previous generation, and that we can pass that beauty on to the next generation.” That belief clearly guided her work.
Since then, LPS Green Teams has grown from 9 schools to 10, including Lexington Children’s Place, and lunch waste in schools is reduced by 80% every day. As a student, I have seen how the program functions day after day, relying on coordination, education, and long-term commitment rather than short-term enthusiasm.
Most importantly in my opinion, Lin Jensen actually practices what she preaches, taking the lunch monitor job and volunteering her effort in waste reduction every day at the Lexington High School cafeteria, where I see her daily. She doesn’t just ask for other people to do the work, she contributes and does a large part of the initiative herself.
This is why Lin Jensen’s candidacy for the Planning Board resonates with me. Her leadership with LPS Green Teams demonstrates long-term thinking, collaboration, and the ability to turn values into sustained action. These are exactly the qualities needed for thoughtful town planning.
Lin shares her priorities for the Planning Board on her website www.linjensen.org. I wanted to add a student perspective from someone who has seen her ideas grow and succeed over time. I strongly support Lin Jensen for the Lexington Planning Board.
Sincerely,
Jiawei Liu
Lexington High School, Grade 9