- Daily lesson planning for afternoon programs.
Last week I had the opportunity to visit the 2012 Student Conservation Association group residing in Bear Brook State Park. The SCA NH Corps is located in the heart of Bear Brook where Interns and Staff live and work in a very close community. Bear Brook State Park is one of the oldest residential corp programs in the organization.
The Interns, aged 18-25 years old,work with the Manchester school system supporting a number of environmental educational programs for elementary, middle school, and high school students.
The Interns and staff are housed in rustic cabins keeping warm all winter with a hefty supply of firewood.
This group of SCA interns has been working at Bear Brook since January.
When I got the chance to talk with the interns it felt like interacting with a huge family. It was refreshing to hear how enthusiastic everyone was to dive into the programs they designed. Each team of interns were designing unique educational programs from scratch with a hands-on emphasis toward teaching environmental education. These were all sorts of creative lessons like identifying smells in the woods, keeping an outdoor journal, and letters to and from a porcupine.
Most of the interns are recent college grads with all different kinds of degrees who felt a responsibility in advising the next generation about environmental stewardship and respect. The interns I talked with were from every corner of the U.S. brought to Bear Brook State Park for the same unique experience. My visit was incredibly insightful and inspiring to see young people so passionate about environmental conservation, building a positive community, and new experiences.
I also got to explore the state park before sunset.
I took the Broken Boulder Trail out to Smith Pond.
I’ d like to thank the SCA staff and interns for talking with me.
If your anything like me, or most of the soon-to-be college graduates out there, your probably not entirely sure what direction you’ll be headed after graduation, and I recommend you consider an internship to give back to the larger community and embrace a new experience.
Are there any SCA alumni following the blog?
What State Park should I visit Next???
Hey Rob- great to see you did a post on SCA! I’m an alum from this summer, I had an internship at Cape Cod National Seashore. Definitely recommend SCA, especially to build up a resume!