Garden Crew Leader Sophiana Reed demonstrates lasagna gardeningThe spring Youth Conservation Crew (YCC) offered by Aldo Leopold Charter School (ALCS) provided paid internship positions for 35 students from January to mid-May. And, the ALCS Youth Conservation Corps will provide 86 summer jobs for area youth May 23-June 10.
Under the direction of Jon Bjornstad, the trail crew has focused on putting the final touches on the outdoor classroom and recreation area at Ritch Hall on the WNMU campus and moved on to create garden terraces in the Big Ditch Park near the Kelly Street entrance. Bjornstad brings 14 years of trail building experience for the US Forest Service. In the summer he looks forward to building a trail to connect the historic Waterworks site to Georgia Street.
The garden crew, under the guidance of Lone Mountain Natives Nursery co-owner Tricia Hurley, teamed up with Allyson Siwik and the Gila Resources Information Project to make headway on a large-scale native planting and restoration project in the Big Ditch Park funded with the generous contribution of the Thirty Something grant. Hurley’s crew has also been involved in the development of the historic Waterworks site gardens and education project. The Waterworks will serve as a waystation for Continental Divide Trail thru-hikers with an urban campground, teaching gardens, and a fully restored building. In summer YCC garden crew members will continue work in Big Ditch Park and at the Waterworks. They will also design and plant the terraces at Ritch Hall.
The mural crew, headed by local artist Diana Ingalls, spent early spring crafting the tiles needed to complete the fairytale mural in from the WNMU Child Development Center. Once the weather warmed up, this crew made significant progress installing tiles on the front planters, painting flowers and a large bean stock in the entrance. In summer the crew plans to complete this mural, restore murals at Penny Park and start a new project at Little Toad Creek with special guest artist Karen Carr.
The eco-monitoring crew, under the direction of conservation biologist Mike Fugagli, has been busy banding birds, mapping songbird territory in riparian habitats along the Gila River, and monitoring water quality at the Iron Creek Bridge Preserve. In the summer, the crew will continue the Iron Bridge Preserve project and expand to work with Carol Ann Fugagli and the Audobon Society to monitor the swallow populations on the WNMU campus and surrounding area. This data will be used to gain a deeper understanding of the role of swallows in urban areas and to advocate for their conservation.
The public is invited to attend the Internship Showcase on May 4 at 5 PM at Ritch Hall, 410 West 10th Street, to learn more about our internship program, YCC, and YCC summer job opportunities. Applications are available at the school and on the ALCS website www.aldocs.org. Summer YCC applications and accompanying documents are due no later than May 16.
Aldo 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 theopportunity to play team sports with either Silver High School or Cobre High School. For more information regarding the school visit the school website www.aldocs.org.
Photo caption: Garden Crew Leader Sophiana Reed demonstrates lasagna gardening