Let me tell you about seven incredible high schoolers who jumped head on into a new experience and worked hard to learn and develop skills in leadership, communication, and teamwork. These students exemplify how much more capable young people are than anyone expects them to be and how inspirational they are for the kids who look up to them.
The River Rangers are interns who joined the Greenway Foundation’s SPREE team as budding environmental educators. After training, they shadowed a field trip and then began teaching lessons as partners and individually. Over the course of their time with us — in addition to learning how to be environmental educators — they gained experience applying for jobs and skills in leadership, team work, communication, and adaptability. These students dedicated time and effort to apply and interview for the River Ranger internship. They sacrificed evenings to learn about environmental education, weekends to work on team building, and hours of class time challenging themselves to teach second graders. As Seniors in high school, the sacrifices they made and work they put in to try something completely new was extremely admirable.
After one day of shadowing, the River Rangers jumped into their second day eager and ready to teach! We had encouraged the Rangers to help our teachers where they were comfortable, but assured them they did not have to teach yet. We were surprised and overjoyed when all of the Rangers collaborated with their partners to start teaching right away! All of the SPREE teachers were very impressed at their readiness and knowledge of the curriculum. To prepare for the next trips, the Rangers asked thoughtful questions about areas they struggled with and happily accepted feedback.
On the next trip, they reviewed themselves and their peers, applying all they had learned thus far to consider how they could improve and to help out their partners. Several SPREE teachers noted that when the Rangers received feedback in between rotations, they worked hard to apply that feedback to the next rotation. This hard work meant the Rangers improved rapidly.
Their last trip was uniquely cold, but they still brought joy, energy, and everything they had learned to the day. When the snow storm started, the Rangers persisted in teaching the wet, cold, and wind. Unfortunately this last field trip ended early, but the SPREE teachers were so impressed with how the Rangers handled this new challenge.
Over the course of their short time as environmental educators, the River Rangers navigated language changes, interruptions during their teaching, last minute changes in plans, lots of trash, and extreme weather. These are difficulties that every environmental educator has to learn how to manage. The Rangers’ resilience and flexibility in facing these challenges demonstrates that they will be successful in whatever path they choose to take.
Thank you, River Rangers! We loved having you on the team. We know you will be great at anything you do and we are honored to have been a small part of your incredible journey. Congratulations on your graduation!
The Urban Farm