PARKS & RECREATION/ Program involves students in park maintenance
Each year, 30 junior high school students from Sylvania, Ohio, participate in a summer work program that helps improve parks and public areas in the community. The Sylvania Youth Conservation Corps (SYCC), which is composed of students who work three days a week during summer vacation, is in its eighth year of operation.
Art Landseadel, city forester and special projects coordinator for Sylvania, initiated the program. “We have 14 parks in our city, and, with our budget, I was not able to get finite details done in our parks. It was frustrating,” he says.
The program was instituted by the city and modeled after the Ohio Civilian Conservation Corps, which provides conservation work experience for unemployed young adults. The SYCC strives to instill work values, such as teamwork, productivity and punctuality, in the students.
The students complete an average of 15 jobs over a five-week period. Some of the projects include maintaining landscaping and building amenities in the parks. In 2000, the SYCC planted about 7,000 flowering plants in community areas, installed picnic tables and benches in two parks, and built and installed birdhouses in Harroun Park.
The SYCC is led by five adults, each of whom supervises a crew of five to six students. “This isn’t a summer camp or an extension of school,” Landseadel says. “The kids know that they are working for the city of Sylvania.”
The group is introduced to environmental job opportunities, as local environmental employees are brought in daily to discuss their jobs, including education requirements and salary ranges. The students also see demonstrations of the latest machinery used in parks and landscape work.
Students receive a small stipend for their work, with a matching amount put into savings accounts. The total cost of the program averages $20,000 each year. The SYCC is supported by the city, the Sylvania Rotary Club, the Area Recreation Consortium, the Sylvania School system, the Chamber of Commerce and contributions from businesses and individuals.
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