Thirty-Six Urban Students Leave for Four Weeks to Connect with Nature

For many of us, our childhood consisted of playing outside all day anytime we could get the chance. Fond memories of climbing trees, making mud pies, picking flowers, building forts, catching minnows in a creek, or riding our bikes were commonplace. However, there are many children today who live in urban areas who never get the chance to do any of these seemingly normal activities. Many children have never had the opportunity to see and experience nature and are spending too much time indoors.

Thanks to a unique program, The Nature Conservancy's Internship Program for City Youth, 36 New York City high school students will now have the chance they may not have gotten otherwise. On Monday, these students, along with their mentors, left to connect with the natural world for four weeks to various Conservancy preserves in the Northeast.

There were hearings held in May by Congress to discuss how many American youth are not getting enough time outdoors. This cannot only negatively impact the children's health, but it also can make them more apathetic towards the environment. This exact problem was also the focus of a June study by the The Nature Conservancy.

"The greatest threat to conservation...may be more subtle than bulldozers and chainsaws," say study authors Oliver Pergams, Ph.D. and Patricia Zaradic, Ph.D. "Direct experience with nature is the most highly cited influence on environmental attitude and conservation activism."

The program was started in 1995 and has offered over 200 kids the opportunity to experience nature like they may have never been able to, otherwise. The program is a partnership with the Friends of the High School for Environmental Studies in Manhattan and the Brooklyn Academy of Science and the Environment. Groups of three students with trained mentors are sent to a Conservancy preserve in one of the following states: Vermont, Maine, New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, or Pennsylvania.

The length of their nature excursion is four weeks and they have the chance to enjoy camping, kayaking, swimming, basic land management, scientific research skills, and educational outreach. Career opportunities are discussed with the students and they are able to complete four 40-hour work weeks. If that were not enough, they also get to visit three different colleges.

Shariff DuruGordon, a 16-year-old intern from Manhattan spoke in the press release about his upcoming adventure. "Until this moment, I have never had a place to see animals and nature," he said. "I will be introduced to a whole new part of me," he adds. Shariff says his personal growth will come from overcoming his deep-rooted distaste for getting dirty.

Brigitte Griswold, the Internship Program's Manager, states, "Many of these students rarely get the opportunity to spend extended time in nature and explore colleges outside of the City. Through this Internship Program, the Conservancy hopes to encourage a new generation of conservationists by providing these young people with their first direct and meaningful experience in the natural world."

SOURCE:

The Nature Conservancy Press Release. URL: (http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/newyork/press/press3060.html)