Photos and article by Lynn Janes

On December 6, 2023, Aldo Leopold Charter School held the end of the semester showcase for the internships that some of the students participated in and the YCC (Youth Conservation Corp) groups. The event took place at the school location on the WNMU campus in Ritch Hall located at 410 W. 10th Street.

Aldo Leopold started with the premise that many students learn best by doing and having direct experience. The school developed out of the community wanting to provide a choice to the area's students. The mission statement of the school: the human and natural environments serve as a text and lab for learning through direct experience, inquiry, and stewardship.

Some of the students had done individual internships with different businesses in the area and had displays that explained the job, what they did, and what they learned.

The school also had four programs with the YCC. YCC started during the depression in 1933 as a voluntary program. At that time the name had been Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The four programs Aldo Leopold has include the garden crew, mural crew, trail crew and eco monitoring crew. Each crew prepared a slide presentation of what they had done and how it had enriched them. Each student also spoke about the experience and what they had learned.

The YCC program teaches the students what they call the four Cs. Each presentation they addressed the ways this had been used. The four Cs stood for Collaboration, Communication, Critical Thinking and Creativity. Each crew had used these principles to address everything they did to be successful with the projects they took on. The crews all had a power point presentation, and their presentation counts towards their grade. Catalina Claussen, internship and YCC coordinator, said the presentations from the students counted as their final and would be 20 percent of their grade.

In each presentation the senior students present to the audience what they have chosen to do after graduation and why they have chosen that path. Many have surprising ambitions and plans.

The eco monitoring crew worked on several projects and gathered data on the natural world. Mike Fugagli serves at the supervisor and mentor for this crew. The crew worked with the Upper Gila Watershed Alliance, Gila Resources Information Project, and Stream Dynamics for their projects this semester. This semester they continued the work on the Iron Bridge near Cliff and has been their main project. They have been monitoring and documenting the birds and ecosystem in the area.

The students have also continued to work at San Vicente Creek doing native tree planting and removal of invasive species such as the elm, tree of heaven and salt cedars. The students monitored the water quality regularly in the creek.

The eco monitoring crew also preformed work on the Gila National Forest by monitoring game cameras they put up and plant and bird identification. They got to experience the release of a hawk that had been rehabilitated and the importance of everything in the ecosystem.

Aaron Meyers served as the leader and mentor of the garden crew. The students worked on the Silva Creek Botanical Garden, historic Waterworks building and the garden at the school grounds. They especially enjoyed doing the monarch butterfly garden. Some of the people they partnered with for their projects included Susan Campbell, Bridgette Johns, Toxtli Sanchez and Naava Koningsburg. On the grounds of the school was a dilapidated greenhouse they renovated by removing the old plastic and some of the wood planks and getting it ready to replace the wood and plastic. They added more bracing to make it stronger.

Diana Ingalls Leyba leads the mural crew each semester. She owns a gallery downtown called Leyba and Ingalls. The crew designs, installs and restores murals in the community. The students partner with the Youth Mural Program, Town of Silver City and Syzygy. The projects they have been working on include the child development center and CP Anderson "Celebrating the Gila Wilderness."

The trails crew is mentored and lead by Toxtli Sanchez. The community partners they worked with included WNMU (Western New Mexico University), Waterworks and Botanical Garden. They put in trails and did rock work in those areas. They have also continued the work on the garden at the school.

To pause the slide show, mouse over the image.