Blog

This month marks SCA’s 55th Anniversary. To date, SCA has engaged nearly 70,000 young people in conservation internships and jobs, resulting in more than 30 million hours of service on federal, state, and local lands. Two-thirds of SCA alumni remain active in conservation. The National Park Service estimates 12% of its workforce started their careers with SCA.

SCA is committed to generating 10,000 conservation apprenticeships per year by the end of the decade, resulting in an even greater positive impact on our land, in our communities and for the planet. As we celebrate 55 years of innovation in the field of youth conservation, we are excited by the future programs, partners and members who will join us in continuing to make a positive impact on our land for future generations.

So, join us online as celebrate 55 years of innovation and join us as part of the SCA community for 55 more years!

• Take a scroll through our 55 years of work in conservation by checking out our online timeline.
• Join us for a service event at Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens on Tues, June 26th as we get to work for the planet and our local community.
• Not in DC? That's ok, we'll be tweeting and posting on Facebook live from our 55th celebration events on Tues, June 26th.
• Tell your SCA story: Join us on Facebook and Twitter on Wed, June 27th and share your story of what SCA means to you. Tag your impact story as #SCA55 so we can all share in the experience.
• Donate to SCA and help place even more young people in conservation opportunities across the country and in local communities.

View as a slideshow on the SCA flickr

Editor's note: The essay below, a tale of triumph and tragedy, was written by SCA Pittsburgh member Siraji Hassan for his graduation from SCA's Leadership in the Environment Advancement Program (LEAP), a conservation program for youth in poverty. Siraji’s presentation won an award that evening and his story may well win your heart.

Being an American means a lot to me because my people, the Somali-Bantu, have experienced many hardships. I once lived in a refugee camp, called Kakuma, and now I live in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I didn’t go to school in Kakuma, Now I attend Allderdice High School. I didn’t have a job in Kakuma, Now I work at the Student Conservation Association (SCA). It was hard for my family to make a living and we struggled for food. Now that my dad and I have jobs, we can support my family. Many of my friends here have gotten their citizenship and very soon, my parents will be taking their test. When I become a citizen, I will be able to get my U.S. passport and have the opportunity to return to Kenya. However, this time it will be different.

Siraji during an SCA Earth Day Pittsburgh event.

I left Kenya a refugee and I am returning as a Somali-American. And I am very proud of that. I will be able to see family members that I was sadly forced to leave behind.

One night in Somalia, I remember all the parents were sitting together. One man came to us and we all had to leave the country. He told us that there was going to be a big war, and that we had to leave as soon as possible. He said there were going to be bombs and shooting and we were going to be in danger.

When the bombs started exploding, my mother took me on her back, grabbed my brother and my sister, and left our house. My other brother was still there, but my mother returned to get him later. When she found him, our house had been destroyed. My mom grabbed all of us, and started running to safety. We later found other Somali Bantu families that were doing the same thing: Somali-Bantu walking, fleeing for their safety. Many people died walking. People starved, died of thirst, or were eaten by animals.

Siraji with fellow SCA LEAP members in Pittsburgh. Siraji is top row, far right.

For three days, we all walked through the jungles and the deserts. By the last night, many people had died. We took as many people as we could along the way. When we started running out of water, we were forced to drink urine for us to survive. That last day, we finally saw a car driving through the desert, which was there to help the Somalis get across the border. They couldn’t drive us, but they told us to keep walking, and that we were close to Kakuma. On the third day, we reached the refugee camp and my mother started crying. The next several days we spent in the hospital. We were given ration cards for food and were given a house that we would live in for the next eight years. Finally, we received notice for an interview to come to the United States and my mother told me the story I just told.

This is why I am proud to be an American. Many of the Somali-Bantu know this story well, and experienced many of the same things my family and I did. But I can proudly say that I am here, and will soon call myself an American.

Seventeen year old Lakey Peterson is a champion surfer, conservationist, and spokeswoman for SCA. Check her out in this interview from Teen Kids News June 5, 2012 episode.

By Nora Kaufmann, SCA Crew Leader

It’s that time of year again. The last traces of spring linger in the air, the birds are chirping, the grass is green, and coffee consumption in the state of New Hampshire skyrockets as the wonderful SCA staff here in Charlestown, New Hampshire prepares for yet another field season. Yes folks, it’s time for Crew Leader Training 2012.

Somehow the whole lot of us made it to Charlestown in one piece, which is quite a feat considering that rounding up SCA crew leaders can be a similar experience to herding cats. That evening, after satiating my palate with a delicious meal from the beautiful and talented cooks, I watched as the group began to mingle.

When this happens at crew leader training a wonderful phenomenon occurs: the hackey-sack appears, a group of leaders start throwing the Frisbee to one another, but the most amazing part, and the part that is truly unique about the SCA, is that this group of people, strangers for all intents and purposes, begins to find connections. You led a crew with my former co-leader, I led a crew in the park where you participated in your first high-school crew, we led in the same park but different years, we will be leading in the same place but different tracks this summer. Some crew leaders even get to see their past high-school participants become crew leaders themselves. This certainly is an inspiring group of people that I have the pleasure of calling my co-workers and my friends.

SCA Crew Leaders assemble for orientation. May 18, 2012.

The next morning, still bleary-eyed while I let a good six cups of coffee bleed through my veins, the lovely Liz Vogel led us in her infectious way through a leadership compass activity, Lori Robertson drew out our creative juices in an environmental education session, and Nelson Bruni begged us to please, for the sake of his sanity, PLEASE label our ripped tents and broken gear. Much to everyone’s delight, the risk management slides this year involved adorable kittens and rainbow-vomiting unicorns! Crew Leader training really does get better every year.

Late in the day, just as hunger was beginning to cloud our vision and the afternoon heat started to take its toll, a ripple surged through the group as Liz Putnam herself stepped nonchalantly onto the back porch. As if every eyeball in the entire place wasn’t on her. It was a solemn moment as this incredible woman regaled us with the tale of how the SCA was born. While she spoke I took a moment to steal a look at my fellow leaders; everyone was quite literally on the edge of his or her seat hoping, it seemed, to soak in just a drop of her eloquence, her courage, her audacity, her poise. Liz Putnam’s vision is truly an inspiration for young conservation workers, so to her I think I speak for everyone at training when I extend a very thorough and heartfelt thank-you.

SCA Founder, Liz Putnam and Adrian Willis, SCA Apprentice Crew Leader. May 20, 2012 at SCA in Charlestown, NH

To wrap up this whirlwind event, we made our way to the Springfield Rec Center where Robin Liston paid a bank-breaking fifty dollars to rent the entire place for one night. I saw my life flash before my eyes as I strapped roller skates to my feet for the first time since the fourth grade. The roller rink, which served double duty as a basketball court, was an interminable death trap, but as I hurtled through throngs of wobbly roller-skaters and rogue basketballs, realizing too late that the front-break was a major engineering flaw in the development of the roller skate, I couldn’t help but smile. It’s not just the coffee that keeps us going, it’s our shared vision, our enthusiasm, our commitment, and our creativity. Crew leaders, staff, high school students alike, we’re all in this for the same reason: to change the world, of course.