15
YSP Turns 20
Nurturing the Next Generation of Park Stewards
For the past 20 years , the Department ’ s Youth Stewardship Program ( YSP ) has worked closely with local teachers to develop a hands-on , outdoor education curriculum centered around habitat restoration and stewardship of our parks and open spaces .
This past year , YSP served 60 schools and youth organizations , partnered with 87 teachers and led 2,670 students on 207 field trips in our parks , focusing on topics like restoration , wetland ecology and urban agriculture .
Since its inception , YSP has :
• Introduced youth to over 100 parks and open spaces
• Worked with over 300 schools / Organizations
• Worked with over 300 teachers / educators
• Led over 15,600 youth though our programming
• Provided opportunities for over 66,801 youth educational activities
• Provided opportunity for participation of over 47,000 hours of restoration projects
In October , in celebration of YSP ’ s 20th anniversary , Rec and Park honored five teachers with a combined 71 years of participation in the program .
Did you know ?
Volunteers gave more than 180,000 hours of their time and energy to improving our parks and programs in 2016 .
15