The Outdoor Leader program at the Urban Ecology Center allows youth to get outside, learn about green careers, make friends, and get paid! It is our goal to provide high school students the resources and guidance to make connections within themselves, their communities, and nature. Outdoor Leaders are a part of our Green Career Pathway program, which engages people of all ages, backgrounds, and interests in studies of ecology, volunteerism, environmental justice, and much more.

Our day-long and overnight Summer Camps can truly be a special time for kids to explore. This year I’m especially excited to announce two new camps: Outdoor Adventures for teens and Pathfinders for kids with special needs.

Outdoor Adventures is a week-long camp for youth who have completed the 9th grade, focused on developing outdoor skills, self-awareness and environmental stewardship. In addition, there will be a significant portion of the camp focused on team building and reflection time that will benefit their growth as individuals.

Looking to get some last minute service hours in before graduation? Want to give back to the community while having a great time? The Urban Ecology Center at Washington Park is the place for you! We are excited to have special opportunities for students who need to fulfill their service hours for graduation.

We are always excited to find new ways to connect high school students to the natural world. It is important to us that students have a place to go that is fun, safe and helps them gain skills that can lead to future success.

Skipping school, dodging the Riverside Park branch manager and free snacks leads to a home away from home…the perfect recipe for an “Impossible made Possible” at the Urban Ecology Center!

Jordan first came to the Urban Ecology Center in middle school on a Neighborhood Environmental Education Project fieldtrip. He remembers Mr. Flower coming and picking up his class in the busses and how cool it seemed to hang out in the woods. When he became a 9^th grader at Riverside University High School, he realized that the Center’s Riverside Park branch was right across the field from his new school. He could come and visit afterschool!

Everyone, no matter their age, can teach, help and learn at the Urban Ecology Center! See for yourself how older adults through teens are mentoring Summer Campers and students who will in turn be the environmental leaders of tomorrow.

Research shows two things make a person environmentally aware – constant contact with nature early in life and a mentor who demonstrates positive behavior toward the environment. With this research in mind, we train interns to be mentors to high schoolers, who in turn become mentors to our Summer Campers.

Come in today to see how your whole family can learn, work and grow at our Center. 

It seems like a simple task: start a fire, and boil a cup of water. Turns out it’s not so easy when all you have is a paper cup and three matches. During last year’s Teen Survival Challenge, I watched twenty different teams accomplish this task twenty different ways, and each of those ways gave me unique insight into the different ways teams work together and think through problems.

The High School Outdoor Leader Program is a two-year, environmental career internship for teens who have completed grades 9-10. Outdoor Leaders are trained in 8 areas including education, stewardship, research and community relations. In addition, Outdoor Leaders take two week-long research trips. This year they even organized and ran our 2013 Teen Survival Challenge!

If you ask any of the Center staff, each person probably has a handful of programs which are their favorites. These are the programs that make us want to come to work each day. One of my favorite programs is the High School Outdoor Leader Program. This program – dare I say it- sometimes makes me want to be in high school again.