AmeriCorps Partnership: Fall
Hello GRP Family! My name is Lauren, and ever since I can remember, Green River Preserve has felt like my second home. This year, that feeling has taken on new meaning. As of late August, the Preserve has been my primary residence, as I serve as an AmeriCorps member for the next year, living on the property and working towards long-term goals of improving and expanding GRP’s educational programs.
As a former camper at GRP for seven years, many of the memories I formed in summers spent on this land remain indelible highlights of my childhood. On mentor hikes, I discovered the joys of swimming in rivers, polar bearing in waterfalls, tasting edible plants of the forest, and crawling through caves. Attending camp deepened my enduring connection to the natural world and created boundless opportunities for joy and discovery. The moment I arrived home after my first year as a one-week camper marked the beginning of a year’s worth of comments about what I had learned, endless singing of camp songs, and a countdown until I could return the following summer.
And return I did, as a two-week camper, three-week camper, and eventually a counselor in the summer of 2021. To my surprise and delight, there was no limit to the fulfillment and excitement I received from spending time in this special place, hearing stories from Sandy about the legends of the valley, and enjoying the tranquility of the wilderness. After graduating from Duke University in May, I accepted a full-time position as an AmeriCorps member at the Preserve for the upcoming year, allowing me to give back to a place that I love so much and that has given me so much over the years.
Created in 1993, AmeriCorps is an agency that provides opportunities for Americans to serve and build capacity for organizations that work to meet the needs of their local communities. My cohort of AmeriCorps, Resilience Corps, a program of the Conservation Trust of North Carolina (CTNC), was established in 2015 as an environmentally-focused service program that seeks to address North Carolina’s changing climate through education, justice, and resiliency.
Serving in this new capacity with Resilience Corps, in GRP’s second consecutive year in partnership with the program, my primary goal is to expand GRP’s existing Kids’ Agricultural Learning Experience (KALE) program into more schools and regional communities. My good friend Meaghan, who I met as a camper at GRP, began much of this work last year and left me with a framework for the improvement of KALE. Through this program, students from local schools are able to spend a day at our farm, harvesting fruits and vegetables, interacting with animals, and learning about sustainable agricultural practices.
As I continue to learn more about KALE from staff who have led this program in the past, I have become so excited to expand the program and provide more local schools with the opportunity to bring their students to explore our farm. KALE provides an incredible opportunity for children who may not otherwise have the chance to experience camp to connect with each other and the world around them in a safe environment that encourages engagement and curiosity. Through my own experience as a camper and counselor, as well as my observations during this fall’s School of Environmental Education (SEE) programs, it has become evident to me that kids find the most joy in learning when they can interact with and directly experience the subjects they are studying. Through KALE, students are invited to be an active part of the learning process, feeding the goats, exploring our herb garden, and getting their hands dirty in the soil. I am so excited to lead this program and experience it firsthand come spring.
From my own time spent working with Farmer Geoff on our camp farm over the past month, I too have learned so much about the plants and animals that live on our land, as well as what it takes to keep a farm running during the off-season. Although weeding produce beds and prepping the ground for winter may not seem like the most exciting type of work to some, I cherish the hours I spend each week working with my hands and enjoying the fresh air.
When I am not at the farm, I am in the office, booking schools for our spring KALE programs (which have already been completely filled for 2024) as well as working to update GRP’s curriculum surrounding climate change and the alignment of our programs with NC Common Core standards. After spending my initial six weeks as an AmeriCorps member working directly with kids in our fall SEE programs, I am excited to see how this work can enhance the learning experience for all students who come to visit GRP.
Although I find great meaning and gratification in spending time with children and am so excited for spring programming to begin, I have thoroughly enjoyed experiencing the Preserve in a new light, relatively empty of people and with winter approaching. I intend to make the most of the space and time that a quiet camp provides for reflection and cultivating a deeper understanding of myself and the natural world. From a young age, my connection with this wonderful place instilled in me a sense of wonder and curiosity about nature and the world around me, and I aim to carry this with me throughout each day of my time here and beyond.
Writing and photos by Lauren Howard
