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Community Corner

Greenwich Youth Conservation Project

What's a 14 or 15 Year-Old to Do in the Summer?

Summer is a tricky time for 14 and 15-year-olds. Too old for camp. Too young for retail or fast-food jobs. Too young to drive. What’s a kid to do?

For more than 30 years, the Greenwich Youth Conservation Project – coordinated through the Greenwich Department of Social Services and funded through private donations – has provided this age group an alternative to the summer doldrums of computer games and television.

For the 72 lucky ones selected to participate in a two-week session, (there are four sessions, each with 18 teens), the answer is a supervised, outdoor work experience with an educational component and added-value all around.

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For those offered a slot – there is an interview process, a mandatory family orientation, and, sadly, a wait list totaling more than 100 teens for this summer alone – any downside to working in the heat and humidity is outweighed by the camaraderie, socialization and significant improvements to the numerous town-owned green spaces.

Christina Nappi, Greenwich’s Social Services Youth Service Coordinator, who is back for her fifth summer supervising the project, credits a stellar volunteer advisory board that includes Mary Hull, Frank Smurlo and Barbara Bollman with spearheading the fundraising efforts. Though, according to Nappi, “It is always a struggle to maintain the program, and it would be nice to reduce the waiting list.”

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For most participants, the project is their first paid work experience, with a paycheck totaling $225 for two weeks of weeding, pruning, painting, clearing brush and planting trees.

The teens don’t know their daily assignment or even the part of town where they’ll work in advance. “It’s like having an adventure every day because we don’t find out until we’re picked up in the van what we’re doing,” said Kristen Ragusa, 14, from Eastern Middle School.

Adventure indeed. The teens have worked on projects at Byram Shore, the Pinetum, Tod’s Point, Grass Island and Bruce Park, to name a few. According to on-site supervisor Nappi, “Bill Burgess, the foreman supervisor from the Parks and Trees, has collaborated with us, giving the teens a variety of useful and valuable sites to work on.”

“The work is fun because we talk while we’re working and interact with nature at the same time,” said Luisa Hernandez, 14, from Western Middle School.

Friendship is a major benefit. Will Kurth, who works his schedule around his job as a cook in a Danbury restaurant in order to work with the teens during the day, said, “The first day, these kids don’t talk at all, they’re so shy. Then they make friends and they’re not so quiet.” Kurth himself counts this summer as his seventh with the project.

“We love the program and think it’s good for the kids to see they make a change,” said Chris Bortot, a paraprofessional at North Street School. This is also Bortot’s seventh summer supervising the teens.

Describing the pride the teens take in their work, Dave Bruni, a North Street School physical education teacher who is back for his sixth summer, said, “The teens bring their families back and they see the rose bushes prosper.”

“None of us knew each other before. Now we’re all friends,” said Sarah Cicchetti, 14, from Eastern Middle School, as she squeezed onto a park bench with five other girls from across town. “We are all about to start at GHS and we all know 16 kids already.”

The kids learn about the program from a variety of sources. Some have older siblings who did the project in the past. The 15-year olds who are rising 10th graders found out through the Student Employment Services at GHS. Brendon Boucher, 14, said, “My favorite teacher at Central, Mr. Booth, told me about the project.”

On a typical day the kids will work from 8-11:30, break for lunch and then have a guest speaker on a relatable teen topic such as cyber-bullying. The educational component comes via speakers such as adolescent psychologist, Dr. Barbara Greenberg from Silver Hill Hospital, whose presentation, ‘Talking to Your Parents,’ was popular with the teens. They also had speakers from Stamford’s Center for Sexual Assault, Greenwich Family Youth Options talking about alcohol and drug awareness, and a Stamford probation officer who gave an overview of the juvenile justice system.

“The speakers are amazing,” said Valerie Calkosz, 14, from Eastern Middle School. “It’s really useful information.”

Anyone who would like to make a donation to the project may write a check to the “Greenwich Youth Conservation Project” and mail it to the Greenwich Dept. of Social Services, Town Hall, 101 Field Point Rd., Greenwich, CT 06830.

Anyone with questions about the project may call Christina Nappi, LCSW, Youth Services Coordinator on (203) 622-7792.

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