City youth looking for a challenge might want to answer the call of Mayor Sheila Dixon?s Conservation Leadership Corps, a seven-week summer program designed to help students learn about and improve the environment.
“This is the first part of my initiative to make the city a greener and cleaner place to live,” Dixon said at a news conference Tuesday. “This program connects the dots, allowing young people to learn about the environment while helping to fix it.”
Sponsored and paid for by Johnson Control Inc., a Milwaukee-based maker of batteries and thermostats, the $300,000 program will give 40 city students an intensive exposure to the techniques and tools of conservation.
“The program is designed to teach young people to be stewards of the environment,” said Dale Penny, president of the Student Conservation Association, an organization that runs similar programs in other cities.
During the summer, the students will be involved in a variety of projects designed to improve city parks. The job, which pays $7.50 per hour for 32 hours a week, will include one week of intensive conservation training.
Antica Howell, 16, a city resident who participated in a similar program in D.C last year, said she was excited to sign up to work in her hometown.
“I love the outdoors,” she said. “And now I get to work outside and improve the city where I live.”
Information for applicants will be posted on the city?s Web site, www.baltimorecity.gov.
