PROGRAM TEACHES YOUNG PEOPLE THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ENVIRONMENT
Possum Hollow group photo while biking at Pulaski Woods South with Chicago Voyagers. Photo provided by Friends of the Forest Preserves.
During Jeremy Whistenton’s freshman year of high school he was charged with finding a summer experience that related to agriculture. He chose to participate in Friends of the Forest Preserve. He loved the experience so much, he ended up participating in that program every summer. Later on, when he was looking for leadership opportunities, he went back to the Friends of the Forest Preserve, this time to participate in the Forest Preserves Experience program.
Whistenton was one of 99 young people, ages 14 to 19, who graduated from this year’s Forest Preserves Experience program, which was created by Friends of the Forest Preserve and the Housing Authority of Cook County, in conjunction with the Cook County Bureau of Economic Development, the Forest Preserve Foundation and the Forest Preserves of Cook County.
The five-week experience is a paid program that gives young people the opportunity to receive hands-on work at forest preserves and learn about the environment. The program was started seven years ago. Since 2016, the Forest Preserve Experience program has engaged 685 youth in paid, hands-on ecological restoration work, professional development and environmental education.
This is Whistenton’s third year in the Forest Preserves Experience Program. During his time in the program he has fallen in love with hearing other people’s stories and their experiences. He has found his niche and the kind of people he likes interacting with.
“It’s definitely a fun challenge. It’s like solving a 500-piece puzzle. It’s so satisfying when you get to the end,” Whistenton said.
While in the program, Whistenton learned Forest Preserve skills, trail building, plant and species identification, as well as team building, communication, and core building skills, while working with 15 to 16 other people. He had to learn how to navigate learning curves and how different people communicate.
Whistenton’s eyes were also opened and it caused him to look around his neighborhood, other neighborhoods and even other states he visits with a more critical eye.
“It made me really stop and think about why the city or city planners decided to put this plant here or why is this species truly invasive to the environment that it’s in,” he said, adding it also made him stop and think about how some people might not get the privilege to be in green space because they do not live close enough to access it.
Whistenton’s favorite part of the program was the environmental hands-on part. He was able to sharpen his skills of identifying plants, while seeing in real time his impact on the environment. He wants to bring more awareness of how important the environment is to people. Not just for them to see green space but to be aware of the plants around them and the impact those plants have on the environment.
“We’re trying to build the next generation of stewards for the Forest Preserve and for nature in general,” said Melissa Agarwal, Associate Program Director of Friends of the Forest Preserves.
Agarwal said about Whistenton, “He kind of found his love for the outdoors and doing this work in the Forest Preserve. He has taken what he has learned in these high school programs and worked to develop it into a career.”
For more information about the Forest Preserve Experience program, visit https://fotfp.org.
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