NPS Header
Summer of Service
In This Issue
NE Youth Take the Job
Empowering NM Youth
A Tip of the Hat...
Safe Routes to School
Jobs
Keep Connected
Let's Work Together
Links
Sidebar-1Safe Routes to School
Library of Resources (pdf)

National Center for Safe Routes to School

Sign up for the Safe Routes to School e-News
Sidebar-2Work With Us
We're recruiting for a great job with RTCA in Las Vegas - help us find great candidates!
keepconnectedKeep Connected
Our newest NPS partnership staff are ready to help-
in Omaha -- Brian Leaders, and in Atlanta -- Josh Moore.
Sidebar-GetInvolvedGet Involved
Register for class!
The National Trails Training Partnership offers a full catalog.

National Park Foundation Impact Grants for national parks and partnership projects -- see the Request for Proposals (pdf)
EventsEvents
Oct. 6: Celebrate International Walk/Bike-to-School Day
http://www.walktoschool.org/

Conference calendar:
Meet new partners + learn new tools
Conservation + Recreation: September 2010
FeatureArticle School Goes Outside
This month, we're celebrating the start of a new school year with two stories in which a new generation is learning about their environment, their communities, their health -- and how their own efforts can improve all of these things.
Crete, NE Youth Take the Job

In Nebraska, the ten high school Tuxedo Park--current trailstudents of the Crete Youth in Governance team take conservation and recreation seriously.  The students conducted a citywide survey on multiple issues, and "trails" emerged as an important topic to citizens.
 
The City of Crete had wished to develop a trail plan for Tuxedo Park for years, but had not found the time or resources to follow through.  So when the students approached the City Council last November with the idea of working on a trails plan for the park, the Council readily signed a resolution authorizing the team to take on that responsibility.

Before starting, though, the students needed some guidance.  Mapping out a trail isn't something they knew how to do. Working with their site coordinator, Leanne Manning (an Extension Educator with the U. of Neb.-Lincoln), the students reached out to the National Park Service (NPS).  Soon Mary Hanson, a planner with the NPS Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance (RTCA) program, helped the students learn the purpose of trails, how to identify a good location for a trail, and how to connect to other trails and to key destinations around the city. They learned how their trail would relate to issues such as flooding, what economic and health benefits the trail might bring, and where to look for grants to fund their project. 
 
"Working with RTCA and Mary was great," says Manning. "We had no idea how to develop a trail or even look for resources. Mary had great ideas and was willing to meet with us and help the kids."
 
The team's work on the trail has spurred all sorts of ideas. In addition to working with the City Council, the team partnered with the Crete Area Medical Center and plan to apply for a Blue Cross Blue Shield grant next year for funds to develop sections of the trails as part of a wellness program. The Crete Heritage Society owns the Jesse C. Bickle historic farmstead, listed in the National Register of Historic Places, across from the river from Tuxedo Park. The society is very interested in this trail project and would like to see it come through the farmstead and continue into downtown Crete.
 
On August 17, the team made the final presentation to the City Council and shared the completed plan, asking for it to be accepted as part of the city's comprehensive trails plan. The Council was quite pleased with the results and had several ideas about funding sources for the development of the trail, and the public works department has already started planning one of the first trail links into the park. The next steps: keep spreading the word and find grant funding to build the trail.
 
"The students just want to see things keep moving forward" says Manning. "They want things to be better for the community.
ArticleAEmpowered Youth - Made In NM

This summer, the students of Belen, New Mexico got a chance to contribute to their communities
Photo courtesy Earth Force
Summer of Service
, learn about collaborating with adults and other partners, and participate in the democratic decision-making process. 
 
Earth Force partnered with the Belen Consolidated School District to identify student participants and choose the site.  Willie Chavez Park was a state park until 15 years ago, when it was conveyed to the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District (MRGCD) and the Belen school district. Unfortunately, the area was neglected and its status caused some confusion for the community and the students.

Sixty middle school students working in four teams spent a week each at the park, working collaboratively on the project using the Earth Force process: the teams identified environmental issues, narrowed down those issues using criteria-based decision making, and developed a community project to address their issues.  In this case, they chose to build awareness about the uses of the park and to beautify the picnic area as a means to encourage more recreational use and healthy eating.
 
The students researched the history of the space, worked with U.S. Geological Service staff to analyze water quality, contacted stakeholders, and started a discussion about how to best use the space. One result: the City of Belen is negotiating with MRGCD to convey the space to the City to become a city park.

These students took part in activities funded by a grant from the federal Learn and Serve America "Summer of Service" program.  "Summer of Service was a successful collaboration that allowed the youth to connect with experts and mentors in the community for both support of projects and a better understanding of the issues," says Cara Lynch of Earth Force. "The partnerships allowed for deeper research and effective action, and really helped each organization think about how to better provide services to the community and to our youth."
 
Another result: new benches and tables in the picnic area, murals to beautify the space and help draw users to the park, and the inclusion of Willie Chavez Park into the City's adopt-a-park program.  "The community is really pleased with the summer of service projects," says Lynch. "This really did change the community's perception of what our youth can do."
 

NPS RTCA staff supported Summer of Service and have worked with Earthforce across the country.
ArticleBA Tip of the Hat to... Rita Hennessy and Annette Heckart
Annette Heckart Conservation Education Coordinator, Chugach National Forest

Annette Heckart of the US Forest Service attended the 2009 "Trail to Every Classroom"Summer Institute to learn how this program could be applied to the Chugach's trails.  Back in Alaska, Annette went to work planning the Iditarod Trail to Every Classroom (iTREC!), which engaged some 1,000 students this summer in place-based service learning activities along the Iditarod National Historic Trail. 

To get started, Annette hosted a workshop last November for all of the partners to develop iTREC! and identify a team to implement the program.  With support from key partners (Bureau of Land Management, Alaska Geographic, Iditarod Trail Alliance, and more) the first iTREC! Summer Institute was launched this August.  "Thanks to all the partners and to Annette for sprearheading the effort!" says the National Park Service's Rita Hennessy of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail, Trail to Every Classroom program.
LetsWorkLet's Work Together
Could your project benefit from collaboration with a National Park Service specialist?
 
If you're restoring a river, building a community trail, or making an urban park flourish, we'd love to talk with you about ways we could work together.
 
Call or email your regional representative today.
Like what you read?  Please copy or forward this newsletter.
Have a story idea?  We're happy to consider story ideas or news items for future publication.
Want to use a story for your own publication?  We would be pleased to help you. To submit an idea or request information about adapting a story, please contact Alan Turnbull: 202-354-6930 or Alan_Turnbull@nps.gov

Conservation + Recreation is written to support and inform our organizational partners, friends of the program, potential partners, and Department of the Interior staff. It's our chance to share activities and successes and those of our partners. For details on specific projects, please contact the staff person involved with each project.

Images courtesy National Park Service