CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. — Ten local high school students are about to get the opportunity to explore potential environmental careers in their own backyards.
It's all part of a program funded by a grant that Friends of Reinstein Woods just received. On Monday, Most Buffalo found out how it will benefit those students.
"We wanted to start a program that would give kids a deeper connection to their local environment, and give them more experiences learning about the environment, and also connecting them with professionals working in the environment so that they would consider pursuing environmental careers in the future," said Meaghan Boice-Green, Reinstein Woods Center Director.
Friends of Reinstein Woods just received a grant for more than $25,000 from the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo. It means teenagers from Cheektowaga High School will get paid to work with professionals in environmental careers to see if that's what they want to do when they grow up.
"They're going to be doing weekly water samples right on their own school grounds, so they're going to learn about what's going on in the environment right where they're going to school, as well as coming to Reinstein Woods, you know, once a week to get to know Reinstein Woods more deeply. They're going to meet with college professors, they're going to get to visit a couple of colleges, so it's really an opportunity for them to explore everything that's going on with the environment here in Western New York," said Meaghan Boice-Green.
The hope is that by being a paid program, the teens stick with it all the way until the end.
"You get someone that comes in here and then, you know, they don't come back for follow-up programs or things along those lines, you know, and that's what this program is hoping to avoid, right? We want to get those ten students really immersed and involved in this program so they can get an understanding of what it would be to take up a career in this field," said Eric Gallo, Friends of Reinstein Woods President.
The Pathways to Environmental Learning program will be held once a week on Wednesdays from 1 until 5 p.m.
"They will also be engaged and meet with some students at elementary schools, so they will give that knowledge or pass that knowledge on even that they're learning already to the younger students and given the opportunity to see what it's like to teach those students about the environment and nature in general," said Eric Gallo.
Students from Cheektowaga High School can apply, and the activities go beyond spending time at Reinstein Woods and testing water from the creek. They will also have field trips.
"There will be a family fun night, there will be an Earth Day cleanup activity, so those are some things that will be really beneficial to the larger community in addition to these individual kids from Cheektowaga High School," said Meaghan Boice-Green.
This will be the first year for the program and the hope is to keep it going long-term.