Outdoor Corps youth program offers work experience and more
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RENOVO -- For six local youths, their work this summer didn't just include the classic responsibility of getting up and going to work as they took part in the PA Outdoor Corps Program. The job took them to various state-owned locations throughout the area.
Each morning Emily Russell, Hayleigh Dent, Martin Lewis, Garrett Cunningham, Giana Balchun and McKenna Bissman would meet in town where crew leader Landon Holjencin would be waiting to take them to where the days' work was planned.
Typically the crew would spend a week in a different designated location such as Ole Bull State Park, Kettle Creek State Park or anywhere in the Sproul Forest such as Doughnut Hole Trail.
As it turns out, their efforts at Doughnut Hole Trail were not only the start of the six-week summer program, but the hardest and most productive.
"Looking back, that first week was tough. Everyone was still getting used to the hard work, it was extremely hot but with that said, it was the easiest place to see where everything that we did was progress," Holjencin said on the final day of work for the youth.
"We cleared the trail which had become quite overgrown, repaired steps and cleared drainage ditches, we could really see each day the difference that we were making," Holjencin explained. The youth workers agreed, when they could see their efforts and hard work were making a difference they said it was the most rewarding and impactful part of their jobs.
The Corps spent time at state parks such as the aforementioned Ole Bull, Kettle Creek and Hyner doing anything from general clean up to planting trees and weeding.
But it was often at Ole Bull that their days of learning seemed the most fulfilling.
"We'd have a day each week, basically in each location, where we would explore and lean heavily on conservation. It was a great chance at an educational day where we could really dig into any questions that they had involving anything to do with the Sproul," Holjencin added.
"This was the first job for many of these kids. The requirement was to be between 15-18 years old and they applied through the SCA website. This was my first year doing something like this and I could not have had a better group. It was a great experience and they really made a difference over a six week period," summed up Holjencin.