Community Corner
Program Gives Low-Income Students Jobs Cleaning Up County Parks
These students have spent all summer cleaning up county parks and learning 'green' job skills - and the Student Conservation Association will give them each a $1,000 stipend.
Student Conservation Association (SCA), a nationwide conservation workforce of college and high school volunteers who protect and restore America’s parks, is wrapping up its Bay Area summer program in San Mateo County Parks this month.
The program gives low-income high school students an opportunity to earn money during the summer and gain important "green" job skills, while simultaneously offering highly-needed services to county parks.
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The goal of SCA’s program is to inspire the next generation of conservation leaders.
Sixteen Peninsula youth ages 16 to 19 participated in the five-week program, which started in June.
With the current unemployment rate for California teens at a staggering 36.5 percent, the program provides an opportunity to do habitat restoration and trail maintenance work during the summer for a $1,000 stipend.
Mid-Program milestones for 2012 included:
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• Construction of more than 20 drainage dips at San Pedro Valley Park
• Brushing and clearing debris from two miles of trail at San Pedro Valley Park
• Removing and rebuilding damaged fenced at Huddart County Park
• Beach clean-up at Fitzgerald Marine Reserve
• Widening 100 feet of trail at Wunderlich County Park
And, SCA representatives say, this is just the beginning for San Mateo County programs.
In September, SCA will be launching a year-round Green Jobs training program for East Palo Alto Youth. SCA will partner with high schools, land management agencies, youth and environmental non-profits, green businesses and others with the goal of creating at least 385 positions for Bay Area youth.
Upcoming summer workdays are scheduled daily in Coyote Point, Wunderlich, Huddart and Crystal Springs County parks through the summer program's wrap-up on Monday, Aug. 13.
For more information on the Student Conservation Association, visit www.thesca.org.
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