VALEDICTORIAN
Gede, a local Balinese scholarship student, graduated from Green School Bali as the class valedictorian and enrolled at the IE University to study International Relations. At only 20 years old, Gede is a member of the Board of Trustees at Green School Bali. He is passionate about Balinese art and has been invited to numerous international conferences to talk about performing art and conduct workshops.

Sisters Melati (17) and Isabel (15) Wijsen VALEDICTORIAN were just 10 and 12 years old in 2013 when they started Bye Bye Plastic Bags. They remember being inspired by a lesson in school about people who changed the course of history and asking themselves ‘What can we do as children living in Bali, NOW, to make a difference?’. The answer was-Bye Bye Plastic Bags a campaign to end the use of single-use plastic bags in Bali, which has grown into an internationally recognized movement for sustainability and youth empowerment.

After graduating from Green School Bali in 2013, Leslie completed a Bachelors in Business Administration and a Masters in Environment & Resource Management. She now works as an Associate Investment officer at PT Mekar Investama Sampoerna in Jakarta, where she introduced a program to reduce plastic waste and electricity consumption. With the support of her colleagues Leslie managed to have the new policies implemented at her workplace.

Isabelle Segadelli was among Green School Bali’s second graduating class. Following her graduation in 2014, Isabelle was accepted to Antioch University on a full tuition scholarship. She studied biomedical science and then enrolled in a nursing program. She graduates in 2020 and will enter the medical profession at a time when the world needs her the most.

Growing up, Tessa had a passion for teaching arts, singing and sustainability. While at Green School Tessa was a local scholarship student and understood how learning a foriegn language can open up new worlds and possibilities. Upon graduation, Tessa along with her father built an organization and a school Kampoeng English, to offer English lessons to underprivileged children so they can access opportunities and follow their dreams.

Upon graduating from Green School Bali, Maxwell was accepted to the prestigious Cornell University, ranked among the best universities in the world. Following the completion of his degree Maxwell joined the Social Enterprise Group at Cornell, where he is a Project Manager. In the future, he hopes to return to Indonesia to tackle his country’s pressing socioeconomic and environmental issues.

Dillon Carpenter graduated from the first graduating class of Green School Bali back in 2013. During his time as a student, at just 14 years old, Dillon became a Bumi Sehat Foundation volunteer for a local disaster relief and co-founded Village Responder, an organization that helps communities and individuals become strong, self-reliant, and responsible for their own well-being. After graduating from Green School, Dillon took on a journey to study pre-medicine in the United States. Now, Dillon is working full-time as a medical and dive instructor in Indonesia.

Growing up, Kyla Langotsky lived in both New York and Bali, Indonesia. During her time as a student at Green School Bali, Kyla was actively involved as a Social Media and Outreach Coordinator for the social enterprise, Bio Bus Bali. After graduating in 2017, Kyla studied at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where she is currently completing her final year of study. Early in 2020, Kyla has had the chance to co-teach a class on permaculture with our High School teacher, Kyle King, for the Green School students.

At just 2 years old, Sweania Betzeba Delisa knew she wanted to be a professional swimmer. During her time as a local scholarship student at Green School Bali, Sweania joined the Bali International Triathlon and took the winning 1st place in the Under 19 category. After graduating in 2017, Sweania continues her passion for swimming and triathlon, and has ventured into other interests such as dancing, singing, and modelling.

Achintya Nilsen, or Tya as people would call her, graduated from Green School in 2017. Simultaneously, Tya participated and was named Miss Indonesia 2017, who represented the Province of West Nusa Tenggara and continued to represent Indonesia in Miss World 2017, where she was successfully placed in the Top 10. In recent years, Tya Nilsen has launched her own project, “Give them a Future”, where the mission is to help and provide opportunities for the communities in Bali, as a way to lift up their life out of poverty.

Achyuth Jaigopal chose music over architecture when the time came to make a decision. Reflecting upon his experience at Green School, there was a really good music program that has “enabled me to expand my musical ability because of all the different cultures and people of different backgrounds.” Achyuth also shares that Green School connected two passions of his life, nature and music. Soon after Achyuth graduated in 2014, he joined the renowned Berklee College of Music in Boston.

Ratri Notosudirdjo graduated from Green School Bali with the first graduating class in 2013. Growing up with a mother who was an etch artist and a dad who was an ethnomusicologist, Ratri developed a love for the arts, where for her, it was in painting. Not long after graduating, Ratri pursued a study in Fine Arts at the Willem de Kooning Academy in the Netherlands. Growing up in Indonesia, Ratri expressed that “the social, environmental, economic and political stresses have become evident. But if art is used correctly, it can be a powerful force to help drive us in the right direction. I would like to return to this country and strengthen the connection of our diverse web of artists and create ways of bettering our livelihoods as a unit.”

Nicholas was in the first-ever grade 8 class at Green School Bali. He could only spend one year here, but it had a profound impact on his journey. He shares: “I only felt the true impact Green School Bali had on me after I left. It’s where I developed my own interpretation of what sustainability meant to me and what my personal journey with sustainability would be.” Today, Nicholas is studying Design at IE University, where he was able to spend an exchange abroad in Mexico. In Mexico, he discovered a variety of cactus that are widely harvested, and together with some friends who shared his passion for sustainability, they have launched a line of locally-sourced wallets made of cactus bio-leather: Tumbao.

Within three years of joining Green School Bali, Shiina learned to speak English fluently, had launched her own sustainable cosmetics business, and participated in the COP24 and COP25 climate conferences. After graduating from Green School, Shiina enrolled at a Japanese University and soon realised that there was a lack of awareness among her peers regarding the urgency to address climate change. It was this realisation that prompted her to take a break from her university and travel across the country to speak to Japanese youth about the importance of taking action in the face of climate change.”