NUCFAC PLT Greenschools! Y-LINC Spring Break 2014: Day one

Luis Cruz, Emerson Hernandez and Nestor Vazquez pitch their tent by the calm waters of Lake Stubblefield.

Our kids arrived safe and sound at Stubblefield Lake Recreation Area in the Sam Houston National Forest, to kick off our journey into nature. They pitched their tents fairly quickly for frist time campers, working together to figure out which pole went where. Tomorrow we will be boldly going into the Little Lake Creek Wilderness to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act and learn more about how the National Wilderness Preservation System secures access to true natural solitude for all Americans.  

The years Youth in Nature Leadership Challenge (Y-LINC) is hosted by the Friends of the National Forests and Grasslands in Texas, and is made possible in large part by a grant from the National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Council and incredible collaboration with the U.S. Forest Service, Houston Independent School District, and dozens of other partners.

Y-LINC has been bringing inner city kids out into the forest since 2008, working especially hard to reach teens of underserved socio-economic strata. Fourteen of our campers are from Stephen F. Austin High School, and one from Eastwood Academy; both are East End campuses, which are 98% Latino, with around 85% of students on some degree of reduced lunch. Austin High is a Title 1 school as well. These kids are not normally represented as being “nature lovers”, and may not be able to access the health benefits of outdoor recreation as easily as others.

This year’s Y-LINC ties into the Project Learning Tree (PLT) Greenschools! projects that have been growing in the East End Schools of Houston. PLT Greenschools! projects are student driven initiatives, which charge students to investigate how their school campus is impacting the local environment, develop a plan to change that impact, and implement their plan with a grant from Project Learning Tree. All our campers are involved in a Greenschools! project at their school, and in fact went through a PLT Educator Training and PLT Greenschools! Training yesterday, March 16. The Greenschools! East End Greenbelt is the union of East End Greenschools!

Eastwood Academy is currently doing some site investigations, in preparation for implementing some positive changes on their campus. Stephen F. Austin High School has completed several Greenschools! projects on their 76 year old campus, including a water use reduction project, in which faucets throughout the school were checked for leaks and rain collection barrels were installed into the school’s water system. Another Greenschools! project at SFA High created an organic urban farming system at their campus, utilizing pest eating-chickens and compost manufacturing earthworms. The Fruit Tree Planting Foundation planted 35 fruit trees at SFA High as part of another project.

Enjoying burgers and warmth, straight from a real camper fire.

All these PLT Greenschools! projects are invigorated by an infusion of enthusiastic students. Eight of the campers have are East End Greenbelt Greenschools! Ambassadors; Luis Cruz and Emerson Hernandez are lead Green Ambassadors going to permaculture classes at Urban Harvest, a Houston-based permaculture guild that teaches Houstonians how to grow their own food, even in the middle of one of Texas’ largest metropolises. All grade levels are represented in the Greenschools! program, from Freshman to Seniors. Manuel Reyes, an Eastwood Academy senior, has just recently been accepted into Stephen F. Austin State University, and will be majoring in Biology.

David De Hoyos and Juan Elizondo, alumni of SFA High school, are the incredibly dedicated teachers who recruited this years student’s. They implement PLT activities in their classrooms at Austin High School, and are providing guidance to the campers as they make one of their first journies into nature.

If you would like more information about what the East End Greenbelt is up to, check out www.eastendgreenbelt.com. We will have even more photos up on our Flickr Photostream and our Google + Page soon! Check out our Twitter and Facebook for even more exclusive content!