Youth-LINC 2012 - Day One

While rain fell on East Texas, Youth-LINC had its first nature walk.

At 7:00am, our four participants from KIPP High School and 4 from Stephen  F. Austin High School arrived at the W. Goodrich Jones State Forest. The morning was cool, and the weather favorable.

Monday was a day of preparation, getting our charges ready to travel safely through the forest, interact with each other, and absorb as much information as we can give them. To start making those bonds ,Tamberly Conway and Dave Clipson lead the group in naming games, trust falls, and willow in the wind throughout the day. Jim Crooks, Safety Officer at the USDA Forest Service Supervisor's Office (USFS SO) and Dr. Ken Kramm, Texas Master Naturalist (Heartwood Chapter) and professor emeritus of Forestry from Michigan State talked about safety: snakes, drowning, and getting lost were among the subjects.

(Left to right) Julio Bedolla, Nalleli Hidalgo, Ivan Lara, Andre Saenz (purple shirt), Paola Silva, Alberto Gomez, and Eric Lopez braving trust falls.

To make his lesson stick, Dr. Kramm got all the campers "lost". After Ken explained the S.T.O.P acronym (Sit down, Think, Observe, Plan) and how to use their senses to memorize their path, he sent pairs of campers onto the Sweetleaf Nature Trail. One camper in each pair kept their eyes closed while the other guided them off the trail. Then the "blindfolded" camper was left alone to find their way back. Using the S.T.O.P. acronym, the "lost" camper reoriented themselves and got back to the trail in record time. While none of the campers were truly lost (several people knew where each camper was at all times), some of them expressed that they felt a little nervous before the sat down to think about their situation. Right after the lesson was done, we were blessed with a little bit rain, which gave the campers an opportunity to use their trash bag rain ponchos.

Jovana, Jasmine, Naelli, and Abby "getting lost" under close supervision.

After the rain, and after a nutritious wrap lunch, Paola Silva of the Texas Forest Service taught the campers about the trees in the forest and how their managed. She gave them a short dendrology lesson, teaching them how to tell tree apart by differences in leaf shape, buds, and arrangement. She told them about how the Texas Forest Service gathers information about the Jones State Forest through sampling, then sent them off to do their own smaller version of a timber cruise.

Paola Silva showing everyone an ariel photo of the Jones State Forest. 

For dinner, we grilled fajitas with our long-time friends, the Chikawa Dance Group. We invited them to join us tomorrow at Scott's Ridge, hopefully they will be joining us (and maybe showing the campers one of their dances).

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Eating fajitas in the workshop at the Jones State Forest. 

The end of the day was a time for reflection and relaxation. At the end of the day, we made camp in a light drizzle at Cagle Recreation Area. Campers had such a blast setting up their tents that some of them were inspired to exercise, running around the track and doing push ups with tree stumps left over from last year's drought. We met together in a circle and discussed what leadership meant to each of the campers, and they wrote in their journals for the first time that night.

Working out...

... pitching tents...

... and learning leadership at Cagle Campground in the Sam Houston National Forest. 

The campers camped under the overcast moon for the first time as well. Tomorrow, they will have their first service learning project, and their first swim at Scott's Ridge.

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