The “Parks and Campus Care” Project

Funder:Genesee Regional Chamber of Commerce
Amount: $35,552
Funding Period: 6/07 - 8/07

The Parks and Campus Care Project is a summer employment opportunity for youth ages 14-18 years of age who are interested in learning and working in various areas of horticulture within the park grounds surrounding Mott Community College. The project involves parent orientation sessions; an intensive two-week skill building training period for the youth workers; participation in the Mott Foundation Leadership Academy; maintenance of both Kearsley and Burroughs Park; as well as an opportunity for youth workers to observe the care and maintenance of an urban commuter campus. The program operates six hours per day for eight weeks.

The “Parks and Campus Care” Project Skills Building Curriculum is designed to educate and train youth workers on various horticultural and environmental issues related to park/campus care and maintenance. The skill building sessions are both instructive and interactive and conducted by professionals who work in a range of areas, from arborists and conservationists to architects and master gardeners, concerned with the preservation of our environment. Upon completion of the two-week training period, program participants work under the tutelage of an experienced Youth Supervisor which involves activities such as tree cataloging, litter clean-up, recycling projects, creek bed monitoring, maintaining the bike and pedestrian trails; planting anti-erosion vegetation, monitoring bird life; painting over graffiti; and field trips. One week is identified for the youth workers’ participation in the Mott Foundation Leadership Academy which focuses on personal and professional development skills such as team building, setting goals, decision making, job etiquette, job interviewing, communication, time management, conflict resolution, entrepreneurship, fitness and nutrition.