Colin Casler chisels a rock near Ritch Hall on the WNMU CampusThe fall Youth Conservation Crew (YCC) offered by Aldo Leopold Charter School (ALCS) provides paid internship positions for 33 students for the fall semester, using COVID-19 safe practices as established by the state YCC Commission and strengthened by the ALCS Risk Management Team. The crews include: garden, trails, eco-monitoring, and mural design and installation. 

The garden crew, under the guidance of Lone Mountain Natives Nursery co-owner Tricia Hurley, created a Traditional native herb garden with Naava Koenigsberg supervision. Koenigsberg received a grant from the New Mexico Tourism Department under the New Mexico True program that is administered by the Town of Silver City for the plants, soil, and mulch.

Allen Trujillo and Amelia Ellis show off a completed native bed at the Silva Creek Botanical GardensThe crew is also working at the historic waterworks site planting numerous natives for Bridgette Johns who is working to transform the site into a Continental Divide Trail visitor’s center.

In addition to these projects, the crew continues to maintain the 10th Street median pollinator garden and the Gough Park Orchard. They are looking forward to establishing a new greenhouse on the ALCS campus located at WNMU Ritch Hall. This greenhouse was designed by ALCS alumni Stephen Lindsey at Future Forge. Adobe Techniques owner Rohan Stites provided the necessary equipment to level the site.

Under the direction of Jon Bjornstad, Asher Gelbart, and Toxtli Sanchez the trail crew has focused on enhancing the quality of life for ALCS students and campus visitors by designing and installing a walking path and series of dry-stacked stone terraces along the steep slope between Ritch Hall (the new ALCS facility) and the student drop-off area below. The ambitious project features outdoor classroom spaces, stone amphitheater-style seating and play areas, passive and active rainwater harvesting, and erosion control measures. Crew member Colin Casler is ecstatic about his teacher and the new skills he is learning: “. . . breaking rocks with a chisel and hammer is a fully artistic and creative experience. You have to figure out just where to break a rock to make it fit perfectly, and then hit it in just the right place to make it break that way. You then have to go back to the wall, see if it fits, and if it doesn't you have to go back and break it again. This process requires quite a bit of skill and intuition, as it's clearly illustrated by how much better Toxtli is at it than me.” 

Pictured L-R: Phoenix Hogan, Zoe Pitts, and Hawk FugagliThe eco-monitoring crew, under the direction of conservation biologist Mike Fugagli and conservationist Carol Fugagli, has been busy conducting a series of training sessions in the San Vicente Creek for their fledgling crew. They have been busy banding birds, mapping songbird territory, eradicating invasive plant species, planting native plants, and monitoring water quality. 

The mural crew, headed by local artist Diana Ingalls Leyba and in partnership with the Youth Mural Program, is close to completing the ofrenda mural on the wall of the annex to Silver City Museum. This ofrenda honors the lives of those who have lived on the property through the years. Part of the crew is installing tiles in the expanded design while others are busy grouting. They hope to complete the project in time to “bless” the ofrenda for Dia de los Muertos on November 1.

Marin Farley, Kaleena Reiter, and Mia Estrada work to grout the Dia de los Muertos muralAldo Leopold Charter School is a tuition-free public school with a focus on stewardship of the community and the natural environment. The school offers small class sizes, after-school academic support, opportunity for paid internship with Youth Conservation Corps (YCC), dual-credit coursework with Western New Mexico University, and the opportunity to play team sports with either Silver High School or Cobre High School. For more information regarding the school and the COVID-19 safe practices visit the school website www.aldocs.org.