2019, Greeley Central High School, Greeley, Colorado, USA
Jack Matthews
Jack believes he can make the greatest difference by empowering others who might be moved my music to work for environmental change. He believes that the growing problem of watershed overuse and pollution has often been overlooked as something too great for one individual to combat against. Unfortunately, not only does this mean people will continue to overlook it, but they will also persist in contributing to the crisis. The first step in restoring watersheds is to raise basic attention. The best methods to raise awareness, according to Jack, is to promote it through elements of popular culture that can easily be received by the public. Jack composed a string quartet, in the key of B♭, and named it after the watershed he lives in –the Poudre Watershed. The quartet includes musical themes inspired by the Poudre River. He hopes that the awareness he creates will help his local watershed by simply exposing people to enough information so that they can ask themselves: “What can I do to improve my watershed?”
