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Thursday, October 18,
2007
1:00- 2:00pm EDT
Session: Organizing Workprograms for High School Students
Trainers: Amanda Benner, Executive Director, UC Green (Philadelphia, PA)
Kemba Shakur, Executive Director, Urban ReLeaf (Oakland, CA)
About the series:
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The
Brown Bag Lunch Series is a monthly webcast held at the lunch hour. The
overall goal is to create informal training opportunities for local
urban and community forestry organizations.
The
series
is geared to mainly serve the needs of volunteer organizations and
community groups. While the webcasts are open to all, the
content is most likely to be of interest to practitioners who work
directly with the public, volunteers, or youth.
The
trainings leverage local successes by amplifying to
a larger audience the model organizations' methods, materials, and
approaches. Sessions are planned to last no more than one
hour, with two
presenters speaking on the same topic from slightly different
perspectives, each for 10-15 minutes, followed by 10-15 minutes of
questions and answers.
The
Brown Bag Lunch Series is made possible through support from:
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Description:
High school
workprograms are a great opportunity for youth leadership through
environmental education and job training. The work teaches basic tree
maintenance and landscaping skills including watering, weeding,
mulching, some pruning, and cleanup, using shovels, rakes, buckets,
hoses, and other hand tools, or the chance to hone math, science, and
computer skills working with GIS data, statistical analysis, measuring
storm water runoff and contaminants, and tree planting and maintenance.
Brown Bag attendees will learn:
- Program goals and structure.
- Daily logistics (including scheduling and wages).
- Succeeding with youth workers.
- Staying current with employment opportunities and workforce needs.
- Engaging community support.
 In
May 2006, UC Green launched its new high school summer workforce
program: UC Green Corps. The program provides sustainable seasonal
maintenance to approximately 500 young trees a week. This program
targets teenagers in West Philadelphia, a diverse urban neighborhood,
and is developing environmental stewards of the future.
 Urban
ReLeaf provides school-year work opportunities for approximately 200
high school students a year. In particular, they work with at-risk
teens from East and West Oakland. Through an innovative on-the-job
training program that utilizes sophisticated equipment and computer
programs to study the environmental benefits of trees, local youth
learn not only important job skills as they plant and care for trees,
but also math, science, and technology. Kemba founded Oakland ReLeaf,
which is responsible for planting more than 8,000 trees in low-income
communities through the East Bay.
Register for the webcast at:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=9Wx7EXDLUCSpAYyB0VWW3A_3d_3d
Next session: November 8, 2007- SmartGrowth and Urban Forestry
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