Jacksonville 2007 High School Summer Crew News

Six crew members from Jacksonville area high schools including Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, Stanton High School, and Robert E. Lee high school worked through Florida’s summer humidity and mosquitoes as they participated in SCA’s Summer Jacksonville High School Program. The program provides students with the opportunity to better their communities through conservation projects and learn countless practical skills.

Beginning on June 4th, 2007 the crew jumped into their first service project at Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve. During the next six weeks students worked at various sites throughout the preserve including Fort Caroling and Kingsley Plantation. Assisting the understaffed park staff, the crew carried out vital projects including trail work, erosion control, removal of invasive species, and preservation of archeological sites. By the end of the program, students had completed 140 feet of boardwalk repairs, performed trail maintenance on the Spanish Pond and Timucuan trails, cleared fence lines around Fort Caroline, and constructed and maintained driveways around historic areas in Timucuan which prevented visitors from parking on archaeological ruins.

For two of the days, the SCA crew was joined by the Stanton High School Conservation Club, a club started one year ago by a high school junior that now boasts around 75 members. Together the crew and club built a boardwalk along the beach in Hanna Park. Feeling inspired by their summer work and wanting to continue giving back to the park, the Stanton Conservation Club has applied to protect Hanna Park for many years to come through the “Adopt a Park” program.

Yet, the success of the summer cannot be measured solely in the crew’s physical accomplishments. Participants learned practical outdoor skills including camping and the use of various tools frequently used in conservation projects. Students also participated in environmental education days which exposed the crew to the environmental issues facing Jacksonville by exploring local ecosystems. Crews then learned what they could do to address the challenges facing their local environment. Working in a group, the crew also practiced teamwork, developed leadership skills.

Crew leaders also sparked the interest of the youth, fueling their passion to do extraordinary things with their lives. Crew leader Ezra Markowitz states, “I have learned that my students are incredibly interested in learning about opportunities in higher education and they are amazed to find that I and my fellow crew leader have a wealth of information that other people in their lives may not have.”

In a poem presented at the program’s graduation ceremony, a crew member wrote:
“SCA can be stressful.
SCA can be challenging.
But in the end, all your hard
Work has paid off.
You learn about your own city.
SCA, I can say, has changed
The way I look at things.
Now I can be aware of all my surroundings.”

This upcoming summer’s program has the potential to be even more successful than the last as the SCA hopes to increase the program to 2 crews of 10 students each.

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