Two years ago, the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay embarked on a partnership to contribute to a blooming workforce development program with the Loysville Youth Development Center (LYDC) in central Pennsylvania. This collaboration gave students who had recently graduated from high school access to professional development and technical job skills. It is well understood that access to programs like these reduces recidivism, and the Alliance was thrilled to have the opportunity to contribute conservation-based professional development!

Spencer Turner, the head instructor for the LYDC workforce development program, described the experience, “The Partnership between the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay and Loysville
Youth Development Center has provided an unprecedented opportunity for our students to practice hands-on skills while learning about the ecological impacts of human development on our region’s streams, wetlands, and forests.”

Conservation-based workforce development at Loysville was all about meeting the students where they were at, Turner reflected, “Most of the students enrolled at Loysville have had little experience beyond an urban public park… and it is wonderful to see them engaged and interested in this line of work.” Not only are they engaged, but “students in the program frequently ask when the next date for meeting with the Alliance will be…”

Alliance staff member, Christine Danforth, who developed the partnership’s programmatic materials, stated, “My time at Loysville Youth Development Center has been so exceptional and reinforcing. My approach since I first started at LYDC two years ago has been to prioritize rapport building with each student, and enter each instruction day with a mindset that students will take with them what they want from the programmatic material.” Danforth discussed that she will hold onto memories of the little things, “It has been really fun to challenge students to complete tasks outside of their comfort zones: getting students to hold a moth we found on a recently planted redbud, watching students work in potting soil without gloves, challenging them to engage with invertebrates found on collected on cutting plant materials, and so much more!”

Three people standing in a clear greenhouse with white framing.

Students caring for cuttings in the updated greenhouse. Cuttings species produced are black willow, elderberry, sycamore, and silky dogwood (Photo credit: LYDC staff).

This fourth iteration of students marks the final round of the partnership between LYCD and the Alliance, Turner regarded, “…hopefully we can find a way to continue to work together in the future. Thanks so much for the time that Ms. Danforth and the Alliance have given to the students here at Loysville Youth Development Center!” Before we close this chapter, let’s hear from a couple of the students the Alliance team had the pleasure to learn from.

When I asked T.N. and J.D. what their favorite day working with the Alliance was, I received very different responses. T.N. regarded, “My favorite day working with the Alliance was when we were taught how to flag. I learned how to measure different distances just by walking, which can be really useful in areas outside of reforestation.” J.D. discussed, “the days we spent creating cuttings were my favorite. I enjoyed this because not only did I learn the ability of cloning trees and shrubs, but I actually got to see them grow and flourish later in the spring.” J.D. mentioned, “… my favorite species I got to work with was the black willow. It was my favorite because after watching the treetalk I got to make connections about salicylic acid (I use that product on my skin). I even tasted the plant that day (it was very bitter!).” T.N. mentioned, “I liked working with the sycamores. This plant was still my favorite, even though the sycamore cuttings were the least successful of all the species we worked with. The way the bark sloughs off as the tree grows creates a very distinct look, and the seed pods are unique and interesting.”

Six students walking around a grassy field.

Students practicing the skill of flagging (a pace-based system Alliance staff use in preparing for volunteer tree plantings) (Photo credit: LYDC staff).

T.N. stated the impact the workforce development partnership had on him, “Being a part of workforce development means I get to learn skills that I can use in the future to get a job or help others. Working with the Alliance in this class also lets me contribute positively to the welfare of waterways and the people that rely on them…” Additionally, he finds value in that “…the work we completed will help keep rivers cool and reforest barren lands.”

J.D. remarked, “Having worked with the Alliance means that I can contribute and partake in activities that prepare me for life and develop a deeper understanding of how humans affect the environment…” He stated further that, “I find value in the work we completed due to the learning that anyone can help the environment, no matter the level of education.”

The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay’s Forests Team in Pennsylvania, gives a massive thanks to the generosity of Loysville Youth Development Center for their devotion and curiosity to partake in the Pennsylvania Seedling Cooperative, and we bittersweetly remark, “That’s a wrap!”