I had two job offers for the summer before my junior year of high school, and I went for the one that came with new boots. The job was with Student Conservation Association (SCA), a program that offers youth the opportunity for real jobs in the conservation field. I was assigned to a crew working on trails in Washington DC. Since then, I have been a part of three additional SCA crews in DC, Maryland and South Dakota. During all these crews I wore the same pair of Timberlands. They’ve changed since I got them, and I’ve changed too.
Impact Stories
Every year, SCA provides training, tools and projects that place motivated teens and young adults in the field to effect changes great and small. How do we measure the effects? Sometimes its through decreased CO2 levels or by the tons of trash collected or in the number of trees planted. Our success is also measured by the lessons learned, the perspective gained and the lives we transform—today and into the future. Often when the SCA project is over, the success story is just beginning. Take a look at some of our most recent accomplishments.
Stories from the Field
How SCA is making a difference
The National Park Service Director’s Partnership Award annually recognizes the outstanding accomplishments and/or lifetime achievements carried out by national park...
If there’s one thing I have learned over my career, and particularly here at SCA, it’s that partnerships are uniquely...
Today, we’re talking about how, in some cases, our passion for nature can actually end up doing more harm than good to the cause of...
Among the waste reduction projects I worked on at Zephyr Cove, my favorite was working on food waste. I knew...
At the beginning of my internship ARAMARK brought all of the SCA Sustainability Interns to Philadelphia for an orientation to...
Alumni Stories
Where will SCA take you?
This year the Northwest Community program is celebrating 30 years of community programming and conservation service to the Puget Sound...
Evan Escamilla, Western Michigan University (Kalamazoo, MI), ‘09 My internship with SCA began serendipitously. As a recent business and Spanish...
For many donors and program alumni, the introduction to SCA is often made by someone important in their lives— a...
Louise Shelley of Washington, DC, is a generous SCA contributor who also donates her time, contacts, and considerable energy to...
