By Sarah Stocco, ’95, ’00, ’01, ’03, ’05, ’06, ’07, Alumni Council member
Some would say that Crew Leaders are the heart and soul of SCA’s high school Conservation Crew program. Read on to find out what the Crew Leaders have to say about their work and the program.
My name is Todd Loubsky. I’ve led five crews and this year I’m leading in Kenai National Wildlife Refuge.
Sweet. So what brings you back to SCA so many times?
I think it’s the tradition of it. The work has a lot of traditional aspects to it. But it’s also the people. It’s kind of creating your own traditions by getting to know different people.
What do you think your students get out of it every summer?
One thing that usually happens is that their confidence level rises in themselves as well as in the world in general and that’s a huge thing for young people to have.
Why do you think SCA continues to be important to the youth of America?
It provides something different that a lot of places, organizations don’t provide. It gives kids the chance to be kids but also take on new challenges in a way that actually matters, that actually does something.
Can you talk about where you’ll be going this summer and why you wanted to become a crew leader?
I’m Joshua Morris-Siegel. It’s my second year as a crew leader. This year I’ll be in Cumberland Gap National Historic Park. I was on two crews as a student, one in Colorado and one in Washington State. And my reason for wanting to become a crew leader is because of what I got out of it as a crew member, the experience and how it changed my life in many aspects. Maturity. Good leadership. Really every aspect of my life was changed after my last crew.
Why do you think it’s important?
Because it teaches values. It teaches responsibility. Really teaches the kids how to be independent and see new experiences and to have experiences beyond normal day-to-day life.
Awesome. Anything else you’d like to say about SCA? I think SCA is a great organization. I think being able to come out to these trainings and meeting up with my two last crew leaders is an amazing opportunity.
Can you talk about where you’ll be going this summer and why you wanted to become a crew leader?
My name is Lisa Piccone. This year I’m going to Harpers Ferry National Historic Park, where I went last year. This is my third crew – I led two last year. And I’ve also done an SCA internship, which was my first SCA experience and probably my best one ever. It definitely sucked me in. SCA is very important for the kids who come to do this, not just for creating a family or values. But for me – I’m a really hard worker – for me it definitely gives the kids a sense of having a really good work ethic and that self-satisfaction of seeing what they’ve done to contribute to something that’s theirs. So I think that’s one of the most important things. It bonds them and they learn about an area that they don’t know anything about, people they know nothing about, cultures that are completely new to them. So I think that’s important.
I’m Cory Hottel. I’m doing the Canada-U.S. crew in North Cascades. I’ve led five other crews before this. I guess the reason I lead crews is to get a deeper connection to people. There are so many reasons, but I think that’s the biggest one and why I keep coming back. It’s not something you can find on the streets. I think being out in the wilderness is the only place I’ve been able to find that. And what I think the kids get out of this is just the experience to simplify their lives and know what that’s like and to have just a small part of that and give them the tools so when they’re older they can pull from that experience and be very successful. And I want them to be successful. I just care about all of them, everyone who comes into my life and on that scale of things getting to know them – that’s a whole ’nother reason why I do it I guess. They walk away with a lot more than they realize and what better gift could you give someone?
My name is Jessie Gunsell and I’ll be leading both crews in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan. This will be my fourth and fifth high school crew and I was also a corps member in the Desert Restoration Corps.
So why do you keep doing it? I wanted to get to that five crew mark, truthfully. And possibly that ten-crew mark. That’s kind of like the peak-bagging. I really like trail crew work and this is a really easy way for me to do that work, and work with youth which is important to me. I’d like to get more into that because I feel it’s a great thing to get our young people out doing more environmental stuff and do something outside the box. I love it – it’s great.
What do you think students get out of going on an SCA crew? I hope they get a lot. I hope they get inspiration for continuing in this field. And I hope they’ll have a really enjoyable experience that they’ll think about for the rest of their lives and always fondly remember.
My name is Sarah Stocco and I’m leading in Isle Royale in Lake Superior and this is my fifth crew. I continue to come back because it’s an opportunity unlike any other opportunity I see out there for youth. It’s frankly a lot of fun. I see so much growth in the students that I have on my crews. Responsibility. Maturity. I see them connect with nature in ways they haven’t before, and that’s really awesome. I did a crew when I was 18 and it impacted me so much both in how I felt confidence-wise and in that I found work that I really loved. I continue to like trail work, and I hope to carry that enthusiasm through to the crews I have. I think it’s really important for students because it gives them the opportunity to do something they’ve never done before and see places they’ve never seen and stretch themselves in ways that I don’t know they can get at home or in school. I love seeing them make that connection.